JP5281238B2 - Laser marking device for edible bodies - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an edible laser marking apparatus for forming a marking pattern on an edible body such as a tablet or a capsule.

Conventionally, edible bodies such as tablets and capsules are given distinctiveness by marking a product name or the like on the surface. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a method for applying an identification mark by irradiating a tablet and a capsule with laser light through a pattern mask.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-122688

  However, according to the marking method disclosed in Patent Document 1, it is necessary to accurately align the pattern mask in order to mark the desired position of the edible body, which is problematic in terms of work efficiency. It was. Especially when fine marking on curved surfaces is required, such as tablets and capsules, high accuracy is required for positioning of edible bodies. It was extremely difficult to increase

  Then, this invention aims at provision of the laser marking apparatus for edible bodies which can perform marking to an edible body correctly and efficiently.

The object of the present invention is an edible laser marking device for forming a marking pattern on an edible body, comprising a holding unit for holding the edible body, and a transport means for transporting the edible body to a marking area. Supply means for supplying an edible body to the holding unit, transport position detecting means for detecting a transport position of the edible body by the transport means, and laser light for irradiating the edible body transported to the marking area. A laser beam scanning unit that scans; and a detection unit that detects a filling state of each holding unit of the conveying unit between the supply unit and the laser beam scanning unit, and the holding unit includes the conveying unit The laser beam scanning unit scans the laser beam based on the detection by the conveyance position detection unit, thereby performing the above-described holding operations. Sequentially performs marking of held edible body part, it said detecting means is emission of the laser beam so as not to perform marking to the holding unit does not detect the edible body is controlled, and the transport When the marking is performed on the edible body held by each of the holders formed in a direction perpendicular to the direction, the conveyance unit conveys the conveyance unit in the conveyance direction based on the detection by the conveyance position detection unit. This is achieved by a laser marking device for edible bodies , which calculates the amount, scans the laser light after correcting the irradiation position of the laser light at the position of each edible body based on the transport amount. Is done.

  In this edible body laser marking device, the holding portion includes a suction portion and a pair of abutting portions, and the edible body supplied from the supply means to the holding portion is caused by its own weight. It is preferable that the suction part is configured to be sucked and held while being in contact with the contact part.

  In this case, the holding portion can be a recess having the suction portion formed on the bottom surface, and the pair of contact portions can be V-shaped inner walls of the recess. Moreover, the said suction part can be comprised so that an edible body can be attracted | sucked by a negative pressure, and the said holding | maintenance part can be provided with the groove part extended through the said suction part.

  Moreover, it is preferable that the said supply means is equipped with the attitude | position adjustment means which adjusts the attitude | position of an edible body so that the to-be-marked surface of the edible body hold | maintained at the said holding | maintenance part may become a predetermined direction. The posture adjustment means includes a supply chute that aligns and holds a plurality of edible bodies in a vertical direction, a cutout roller that sequentially cuts out and holds the aligned edible bodies on the outer peripheral surface, and conveys them by rotation. The edible body conveyed by the cut-out roller can be sucked and held on the outer peripheral surface, and can be configured to include a supply roller that supplies the edible body to each holding portion of the conveying means by rotation.

  Moreover, the said conveyance means can be comprised from the conveyance drum which equips the outer peripheral surface with the said holding part and conveys an edible body by rotational drive. In this case, it is preferable that the transport position detection unit detects the transport position of the edible body based on detection of the rotational position of the transport drum. The transport drum can be configured such that a plurality of the holding portions are formed along both the axial direction and the circumferential direction, and the laser beam scanning means is edible transported in the circumferential direction of the transport drum. The marking can be sequentially performed on the body along the axial direction of the transport drum. The laser beam scanning unit is configured to correct the laser beam scanning by calculating a conveyance amount of the conveyance drum based on detection of the conveyance position detection unit in a state where the conveyance drum is continuously rotated. be able to.

  Further, in each of the above edible body laser marking devices, marking inspection means for photographing the marking applied to the edible body by the laser beam scanning means in a state where the edible body is held by each holding portion. It is preferable to further provide.

  In addition, the edible body to be marked is preferably a tablet, a capsule, or an empty capsule.

  According to the edible body laser marking device of the present invention, it is possible to accurately and efficiently mark an edible body.

  Hereinafter, actual forms of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a side view showing a schematic configuration of an edible laser marking device according to an embodiment of the present invention. The laser marking device of this embodiment is for marking the surface of a flat edible body such as a tablet.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the laser marking device 1 includes a transport drum 10 that holds the edible body e on the outer peripheral surface and transports the edible body e by rotation, a supply device 20 that supplies the edible body e to the transport drum 10, and a transport A laser beam scanning device 30 that performs marking by scanning the edible body e conveyed by the drum 10 with a laser beam, a marking inspection device 40 that inspects the marking state of the edible body e, and edible material after the inspection And a discharge device 50 for discharging the body e, which can be set on the horizontal floor F by the legs 1a and 1a.

  As shown in a sectional view in FIG. 2, the transport drum 10 is formed in a hollow cylindrical shape, and is driven to rotate by a drive motor (not shown) connected through a rotating shaft at the end. As shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, a plurality of holding portions 11 made of concave portions capable of accommodating the edible body e are formed at equal intervals along both the circumferential direction and the axial direction on the outer peripheral surface of the transport drum 10. Has been. FIG. 3 is a development view showing the outer peripheral surface of the transport drum 10 in a plan view.

  In addition, the conveyance drum 10 is formed with an air passage 12 on the radially inner side so as to correspond to the respective holding portions 11 arranged along the circumferential direction. Each air passage 12 extends so as to penetrate the transport drum 10 in the axial direction, and communicates with a plurality of holding portions 11 aligned in the axial direction via communication holes 13.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the communication holes 13 are opened on the bottom surfaces of the respective holding portions 11, and the groove portions 14 are passed through the communication holes 13 of the respective holding portions 11 aligned in the circumferential direction of the transport drum 10. Is formed. The shape of the holding portion 11 is a pentagonal shape (home base shape) with the groove portion 14 as an axis of symmetry, and an edible body e in which V-shaped inner wall surfaces extending on both sides across the apex on the groove portion 14 are accommodated. A pair of abutting portions 11a and 11a that abut against the peripheral edge of each of the two are constituted.

  The air passage 12 formed in the transport drum 10 is connected to a suction portion (not shown) of the vacuum suction device so that the opening end portion is slidably rotated while maintaining an airtight state. The edible body e in the holding part 11 is sucked and held through the hole 13. Each air passage 12 is connected to the vacuum suction device at most rotational positions, but compressed air is supplied from a compressed air supply device (not shown) while passing through the posture correction area A shown in FIG. Then, air is ejected to the holding portion 11 through the communication hole 13.

  A rotary encoder 15 that detects the rotational position of the transport drum 10 is provided on the rotational shaft of the transport drum 10 as a transport position detection unit for the edible body e by the transport drum 10. The rotary encoder 15 has a known configuration in which a slit plate provided on a rotating shaft and a fixed slit plate are disposed between a light emitting element and a light receiving element. In the present embodiment, an absolute type that detects the rotational position of the transport drum 10 as an absolute value is used to obtain high detection accuracy as the rotational position detection means. However, an incremental type can also be used. .

  As shown in FIG. 1, the supply device 20 includes a hopper 21 into which the edible body e is charged, a linear feeder 22 that transports the edible body e in the horizontal direction, and the edible body e that is horizontally transported. And a ball feeder 24 that supplies the coil chute 23 in a predetermined posture. The ball feeder 24 is provided with a level sensor for detecting the height position of the stored material, and the linear feeder 22 is operated so that the amount of the edible body e stored in the ball feeder 24 is always substantially constant. Is controlled. Further, the ball feeder 24 is provided with a static eliminating device 24a for removing static electricity charged on the edible body e during conveyance.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the supply device 20 includes a supply chute 25 that vertically holds the plurality of edible bodies e supplied via the coil chute 23, and an edible food that is aligned and held. A cut-out roller 26 that sequentially conveys the body e by rotation and a filling roller 27 that receives the conveyed edible body e and fills the conveyance drum 10 are provided. The supply chute 25, the cut-out roller 26, and the filling roller 27 are arranged such that the edible body e held by the holding unit 11 of the transport drum 10 has a predetermined direction by exposing the surface to be marked radially outward. It functions as a posture adjustment means 29 for adjusting the posture of the edible body e supplied to the transport drum 10.

  The supply chute 25 holds and holds a plurality of edible bodies e so that the flat surfaces are in contact with each other, and when the alignment height becomes a certain level or less, it is detected by the remaining amount detection sensor 25a.

  The cutting roller 26 has a plurality of concave portions 26a formed at equal intervals along the circumferential direction on the outer peripheral surface, and sequentially cuts the lowermost edible body e aligned and held on the supply chute 25 to form the concave portions 26a. It is guided to the filling roller 27 while sliding the flat surface of the edible body e housed therein and exposed with the guide surface of the guide member 26b.

  The filling roller 27 has a plurality of suction holes 27a formed at equal intervals along the circumferential direction on the outer peripheral surface, and receives the edible body e conveyed by the cutting roller 26 by suction in the suction holes 27a. It is rotated and conveyed toward the conveyance drum 10. Each suction hole 27 a is connected to a vacuum suction device (not shown) via the air passage 27 b, similarly to the communication hole 13 of the transport drum 10, and the suction force from the suction hole 27 a is supplied from the communication hole 13. By setting the suction force smaller than the suction force, the edible body e is reliably filled from the filling roller 27 to the holding portion 11 of the transport drum 10. A neutralizing device 27 c is disposed in the vicinity of the filling roller 27, and the edible body e is neutralized again during the rotational conveyance by the filling roller 27.

  The laser beam scanning device 30 is disposed in the vicinity of the transport drum 10 and on the downstream side of the feeding device 20 in the transport direction of the edible body e. As shown in the schematic diagram of FIG. Galvanometer mirrors 32 and 33, a converging lens 34, and a controller 35.

The laser light source 31 is a device that emits laser light that forms a marking pattern on the edible body e. In the present embodiment, a laser light source 31 that emits YVO ₄ laser light is used. The laser light emitted from the laser light source 31 can preferably be exemplified by solid laser light such as YLF laser light and YAG laser light in addition to YVO ₄ laser light, gas laser such as excimer laser and carbon dioxide gas laser, It is also possible to use a liquid laser such as a dye laser. In particular, basic, second, third and fourth harmonic YVO4 laser transmitters are preferred. For example, YVO4 Laser DS20H-355 (Photonics Industries International, Inc) can be used as the third harmonic transmitter, and AVIA266-3000 (COHERENT) can be used as the fourth harmonic transmitter.

  In addition, the laser of the present invention can be used with a wavelength of 200 to 1100 nm. A laser having a wavelength of 1060 to 164 nm, 527 to 532 nm, 351 to 355 nm, or 263 to 266 nm is preferable. For example, when marking is performed by burning a component present on the surface of the edible body e, 1060 to 1064 nm is preferable, and when using a discoloration inducing component described later, a wavelength of 351 to 355 nm or 263 to 266 nm These lasers are preferred. In addition, when marking by shaving the surface of an edible body, a short wavelength is preferable.

  The pair of galvanometer mirrors 32 and 33 can be changed in reflection angle by drive devices 32a and 33a such as servo motors, respectively. One galvanometer mirror 32 has the reflection angle in the X direction, and the other galvanometer mirror 33 has Y. Each direction reflection angle can be changed. Accordingly, the laser light emitted from the laser light source 31 can be scanned in the circumferential direction and the axial direction of the transport drum 10 in the marking area on the transport drum 10.

  The converging lens 34 is composed of, for example, an f-θ lens, and converges the laser light reflected by the pair of galvanometer mirrors 32 and 33 onto the surface of the edible body e. The converging lens 34 is supported so as to be movable in the vertical direction, and the focal position of the laser beam can be adjusted as appropriate.

  The controller 35 stores a marking pattern to be applied to the edible body e such as characters, symbols and figures designed by CAD or the like in a memory unit (not shown) as marking information, and is conveyed by detection of the rotary encoder 15. The edible body e is marked by controlling the emission of the laser light source 31 and the driving of the driving devices 32a and 33a based on the marking information while grasping the rotational position of the drum 10.

  The configuration of the laser beam scanning device 30 is not limited to the galvanometer mirror type described above, and may be other configurations such as a resonant scan type and a polygon mirror type.

  Missing or dropping of the edible body e with respect to the transport drum 10 is caused by a missing detection sensor (not shown) that detects the filling state of each holding unit 11 of the transport drum 10 between the supply device 20 and the laser beam scanning device 30. ) Or an appearance inspection device 62 to be described later. The controller 35 controls the emission of the laser light source 31 so as not to perform marking on the holding unit 11 in which the dropout detection sensor (or the appearance inspection device 62) does not detect the edible body e.

  The laser beam scanning device 30 is covered with a cylindrical protective cover 36, and a suction device (not shown) for sucking dust generated during the marking process is connected to the side surface of the protective cover 36, and further after marking. A neutralizing device (not shown) for neutralizing the edible body e is provided.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the marking inspection device 40 is disposed in the vicinity of the conveyance drum 10 on the downstream side in the conveyance direction of the edible body e with respect to the laser beam scanning device 30. An illuminating device that illuminates the edible body e conveyed to the camera, and a photographing device such as a CCD camera that photographs the surface of the edible body e in the photographing area.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the discharge device 50 is disposed downstream of the marking inspection device 40 in the conveyance direction of the edible body e, and removes the edible body e held by the holding portion 11 of the conveyance drum 10. A suction drum 51 for sucking on the surface is provided. The suction drum 51 is individually provided with suction holes so that the edible bodies e aligned along the axial direction of the transport drum 10 in the delivery area can be sucked by the operation of a vacuum suction device (not shown). The suction of the edible body e can be individually blocked by a shut-off valve provided corresponding to each suction hole. The edible body e sucked by the suction drum 51 is rotated and conveyed toward the non-defective chute 52. Further, the discharge device 50 includes a defective chute 53 that collects the edible body e that has passed through the transfer area without being sucked by the suction drum 51.

  Furthermore, the laser marking device 1 includes appearance inspection devices 61 and 62 for performing an appearance inspection of the edible body e. The appearance inspection devices 61 and 62 are arranged so that the exposed surfaces of the edible body e conveyed by the filling roller 27 and the conveying drum 10 can be photographed, and whether or not the edible body e is cracked, broken, or adhered to foreign matter. Can be inspected. The appearance inspection apparatuses 61 and 62 have the same configuration as that of the marking inspection apparatus 40, and the edible body e whose inspection result is unacceptable is discharged through the defective chute 53.

  Next, the operation of the laser marking device 1 will be described. First, a large number of edible bodies e made of tablets are put into the hopper 21 of the supply device 20. In order to facilitate marking on the edible body e, it is preferable that a colored film is formed on the surface of the edible body e to be added, and thereby the discoloration of the irradiated portion can be achieved without increasing the intensity of the laser beam. And a clear marking can be formed.

  The edible body e put in the hopper 21 is aligned and held in the vertical direction on the supply chute 25 via the linear feeder 22 and the ball feeder 24, and then sequentially cut out by the cutting roller 26, whereby the orientation of the uneven plane is changed. It is conveyed by the filling roller 27 in a constant state. As a result, each holding part 11 of the transport drum 10 is filled with the edible body e in a desired posture.

  The edible body e filled in the holding unit 11 is conveyed by the rotation of the conveying drum 10 while being sucked and held through the communication hole 13. Then, when the compressed air is ejected from the communication hole 13 when passing through the posture correction area A, the suction and holding of the edible body e is once released. As a result, the edible body e is sucked and held again through the communication hole 13 after passing through the posture correction area A after coming into contact with the contact portions 11a and 11a located below the holding portion 11 by its own weight. . Since the groove portion 14 is formed in the holding portion 11, when compressed air is supplied in the posture correction area A, the compressed air can be released from the groove portion 14 exposed to the outside of the edible body e. It is possible to reliably prevent the edible body e from falling off due to the jet of compressed air.

  As described above, the conveying drum 10 has the communication hole in the state where the edible body e supplied from the supply device 20 is jetted from the communication hole 13 and is brought into contact with the pair of contact portions 11a and 11a. 13, the edible body e is surely placed in a proper position in the proper position in the holding unit 11 even when the size of the edible body e varies slightly. The laser marking in the subsequent process can be performed accurately. Although the ejection of compressed air in the posture correction area A is preferable from the viewpoint of reliably correcting the position and posture of the edible body e, the same effect as described above can be obtained simply by releasing the suction through the communication hole 13. It is possible to get.

  The posture correction area A is formed at the rotation position of the transport drum 10 that can prevent the edible body e from falling off the holding portion 11 while the edible body e is in contact with the pair of contact portions 11a and 11a when the suction is released. In this embodiment, the posture correction area A is defined as a range in which the angle with the horizontal direction is about 50 degrees to 75 degrees.

  Thus, the edible body e is conveyed to the marking area facing the laser beam scanning device 30 while being accurately held at a predetermined position on the outer surface of the conveyance drum 10. In the laser beam scanning device 30, the controller 35 scans the laser beam based on the marking information to form a marking pattern on the edible body e, and sequentially performs this in the axial direction of the transport drum 10.

  In addition to the marking design, the marking information also includes the irradiation order of one edible body, and for example, the laser light irradiation order can be instructed to make the marking design one stroke. The marking design is not particularly limited, and the marking information can be changed while observing the irradiation state, so that the design can be easily corrected.

  Since the transport drum 10 is continuously rotated during the scanning of the laser light, when marking the adjacent edible body e, simply moving the irradiation position of the laser light in the axial direction of the transport drum 10 As shown by a solid line in FIG. 5, a positional shift with respect to the edible body e occurs, and accurate marking cannot be performed. Therefore, the controller 35 calculates the conveyance amount Δ in the circumferential direction of the conveyance drum 10 based on the detection of the rotary encoder 15 when marking the edible body e along the axial direction of the conveyance drum 10. By scanning the laser beam while correcting the conveyance amount Δ in real time, a desired marking pattern can be accurately formed at a desired position of each edible body e as shown by a broken line in FIG. it can. As a result, the rotation of the transport drum 10 can be maintained constant, so that the stable edible body e can be supplied from the supply device 20 to the transport drum 10 and a high marking processing capability can be obtained. .

  The laser beam scanning device 30 performs marking on each edible body e conveyed by the rotation of the conveyance drum 10 by reciprocating the irradiation position of the laser beam along the axial direction of the conveyance drum 10. In this embodiment, marking is performed both during forward movement and during backward movement, but marking may be performed only in either one.

  The edible body e that has been marked is conveyed to the vicinity of the marking inspection device 40 by the rotation of the conveying drum 10 and imaging of the marking state is performed. The marking inspection device 40 performs image processing on the captured image data of the edible body e, and determines whether the marking state is acceptable or not by comparison with a master stored in advance. Thereafter, the edible body e is conveyed toward the discharge device 50.

  The edible body e that has passed the marking state is sucked by the suction drum 51 in the delivery area, falls by its own weight onto the non-defective chute 52 by the rotation of the suction drum 51, and is stored in a non-defective receiving box (not shown) or the like. . On the other hand, for the edible body e whose inspection result is unacceptable, when the rejection signal is transmitted from the marking inspection device 40 to the discharge device 50 and conveyed to the delivery area based on the detection of the rotary encoder 15. The suction of the suction drum 51 is temporarily interrupted. As a result, the edible body e passes through the transfer area without being sucked into the suction drum 51, and passes through the vacuum cut-off area at the bottom of the transport drum 10, whereby the suction to the transport drum 10 is released. And falls on the defective chute 53.

  As described above, the conveyance of the edible body e by the conveyance drum 10 can efficiently perform the formation of the marking pattern and the subsequent inspection of the marking state.

  In addition, the laser marking device 1 of the present embodiment includes appearance inspection devices 61 and 62, and the edible body e is subjected to appearance inspection on one of the flat surfaces during the conveyance by the filling roller 27, and the conveyance drum 10. An appearance inspection is performed with respect to the other flat surface during the conveyance. As a result, the appearance inspection can be efficiently performed together with the marking on the edible body e.

  As mentioned above, although one Embodiment of this invention was explained in full detail, the specific aspect of this invention is not limited to the said embodiment. For example, in the present embodiment, the case where marking is performed on the uneven plane of the tablet has been described. However, as shown in FIGS. By forming the ring-shaped side surface of the edible body e so as to be exposed, the side surface of the edible body e can be marked. 6A is a development view showing the outer peripheral surface of the transport drum 10 in a plan view, and FIG. 6B is a partial cross-sectional view of the transport drum 10. FIG. 6 shows the same configuration as FIG. The same reference numerals are given to the portions (the same applies to the following drawings).

  In the present embodiment, the posture adjusting means 29 for adjusting the posture of the edible body e supplied to the transport drum 10 is configured to include the supply chute 25, the cutting roller 26, and the filling roller 27. If the edible body e can be supplied so that the to-be-marked surface of e becomes a predetermined direction, it will not be specifically limited. For example, with respect to the transport drum 10 shown in FIG. 6 described above, as shown in FIG. 7, the service hopper 201 into which the edible body e is charged, and the edible body e in the upright state, A supply device 20 including a comb-tooth-shaped vibration guide feeder 202 that guides to each holding unit 11 and a brush roll 203 that prevents the edible body e housed in the holding unit 11 from jumping out can be used. The guide feeder 202 can function as an attitude adjustment unit. As shown in a cross-sectional view in FIG. 8, the vibration guide feeder 202 includes a guide portion 202 a having an inclined surface formed so that an opening width is gradually narrowed toward the transport drum 10, and an edible body e is a flat surface. The flow restricting portion 202b whose opening width is set so as to pass only in the direction along the edible portion is provided, so that the edible body e has an inclined plane of the inclined portion of the guide portion 202a and the flow restricting portion 202b. The edible body e is supplied to each holding portion 11 guided along the wall surface and aligned in the axial direction of the transport drum 10 such that the side surface faces radially outward. The shape of the edible body e is preferably flat so as to pass through the flow restricting portion 202b in a certain direction with certainty. For example, when the edible body e is a deformed tablet, the short diameter of the flat surface is It is preferably 1 mm or more larger than the thickness.

  In addition, the edible body e to be subjected to laser marking is not limited to a medicine, and may be a health food or a confectionery. The shape of the tablet is not limited to a disk shape, and may be a deformed tablet. In addition to tablets, capsules and empty capsules may be used, and in any case, high accuracy is required for marking, which is particularly suitable as a marking object according to the present invention. However, the edible body e may be in other forms having regularity other than tablets, capsules, and empty capsules.

  Note that the edible body e is marked by laser beam irradiation, by shaving the surface, or by physical or chemical changes in the components present on the surface. At this time, it is preferable to disperse a component that induces discoloration with laser light irradiation in advance in the edible body e or its coating layer, or in advance to adhere to the surface of the edible body e. That is, it becomes possible to give a clear marking with the surface of the edible body e being hardly scraped off, which is preferable in terms of ensuring the quality of the edible body or improving productivity. In particular, the component that induces the color change is preferably at least one of color change-inducing oxides such as titanium oxide, yellow iron sesquioxide, and iron sesquioxide that can change color by agglomeration by laser irradiation.

  Moreover, in this embodiment, although the recessed part formed in the outer peripheral surface of the conveyance drum 10 is used as the holding part 11, as long as the edible body e can be sucked and held reliably, about the shape of the recessed part and the arrangement of the communication holes 13 It is not particularly limited. The suction part that sucks and holds the edible body e may have a configuration other than the communication hole 13. For example, when the edible body e or its packaging material has magnetism, an electromagnet or a permanent magnet is used. You can also. Furthermore, the holding part 11 does not necessarily need to be a concave part, and the holding part 11 can be configured by simply forming the communication hole 13 on the smooth outer peripheral surface of the transport drum 10, for example.

  In the present embodiment, the pair of contact portions 11 a and 11 a are formed by the V-shaped inner wall surface of the concave portion that constitutes the holding portion 11, but the edible body e is used as the outer peripheral surface of the transport drum 10. The pair of contact portions 11a and 11a can be configured by projecting pieces or the like as long as they can be supported at a predetermined position by contact with the peripheral edge while placed on the top. The shape of the pair of contact portions 11a and 11a is preferably formed so as to make point contact with the edible body e.

  Further, in this embodiment, the groove portion 14 that passes through the communication hole 13 is formed so as to extend in the circumferential direction of the transport drum 10, but may be formed so as to extend in the axial direction of the transport drum 10. Moreover, the groove part 14 does not necessarily need to extend to the outside of the holding part 11, as long as compressed air can escape through the groove part 14 in a state where the edible body e is accommodated in the holding part 11. The groove portion 14 may be provided in each holding portion 11 individually. Further, if the amount of compressed air ejected from the communication hole 13 can be appropriately controlled, a configuration in which the groove portion 14 is not provided is also possible.

  In the present embodiment, the marking processing capability is improved by marking the edible body e while the transport drum 10 is continuously rotated. However, the edible body e is detected by the rotary encoder 15. Each time is transported to the marking area, an intermittent operation may be performed in which the driving of the transport drum 10 is temporarily stopped until the marking is completed. Even in this case, marking can be performed sequentially on each edible body e held along the conveyance direction of the conveyance drum 10, and the marking operation can be performed accurately and efficiently.

  In this embodiment, a plurality of holding portions 11 are arranged not only in the circumferential direction (conveyance direction) of the conveyance drum 10 but also in the axial direction, but in the axial direction of the conveyance drum 10. The arrangement of the holding part 11 may be single.

  In this embodiment, the rotary encoder 15 is used as means for detecting the transport position of the edible body e by the transport drum 10. However, as long as the rotational position of the transport drum 10 can be accurately grasped, a potentiometer, a resolver, etc. Other rotational position detection devices can also be used. Further, it is possible to detect the transport position of the edible body e by means other than the rotational position detection device of the transport drum 10. For example, each edible body e transported by the transport drum 10 is photographed by the appearance inspection device 62 to acquire position information of each edible body e, and the laser beam scanning device 30 performs laser processing based on this position information. The accurate marking on the edible body e can also be performed by scanning light. When using such a transport position detecting unit, the holding units 11 do not necessarily need to be aligned.

  Moreover, in this embodiment, although the conveyance drum 10 is used as a conveyance means which conveys the edible body e to a marking area, other conveyance apparatuses, such as a belt conveyor and a slat conveyor, can also be used, for example. . For example, as shown in FIG. 9 (a), the inside of the conveyor 100 formed in an endless shape is used as a sealed space, and a conveying device including suction guides 101 and 102 that make the inside negative pressure is used. The supply device 20, the appearance inspection device (transport position detection device) 62, and the laser beam scanning device 30 may be sequentially arranged along the transport direction so as to face the transport surface. As shown in FIG. 9B, a holding portion 111 made of a concave portion is formed on the transport surface of the conveyor 100, and the edible body can be sucked and held by the communication hole 113. The conveyor 100 can also be disposed so as to be conveyed obliquely upward toward the marking area. By forming a pair of abutting portions on the obliquely lower side of the holding portion 111, the same configuration as shown in FIG. In addition, the edible body supplied to the holding part 111 can be configured to be sucked and held by the communication hole 113 in a state where the edible body is in contact with the pair of contact parts by its own weight.

It is a side view showing a schematic structure of a laser marking device for edible bodies concerning one embodiment of the present invention. It is principal part sectional drawing of the laser marking apparatus shown in FIG. FIG. 6 is a development view in which the outer peripheral surface of the transport drum is planarly represented. It is a schematic block diagram of a laser beam scanning apparatus. It is a figure for demonstrating the action | operation of a laser beam scanning apparatus. It is the expanded view and sectional drawing which show the modification of a conveyance drum. It is a side view which shows the modification of a supply apparatus. It is principal part sectional drawing of the supply apparatus shown in FIG. It is a side view which shows the modification of a conveyance drum.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Laser marking apparatus 10 Conveying drum 11 Holding | maintenance part 11a Contact part 12 Ventilation path 13 Communication hole 14 Groove part 15 Rotary encoder 20 Supply apparatus 25 Supply chute 26 Cutting roller 27 Filling roller 27a Suction hole 27b Air path 30 Laser beam scanning apparatus 40 Marking Inspection device 50 Discharge device e Edible body

Claims (13)

An edible laser marking device for forming a marking pattern on an edible body,
A holding means for holding the edible body, a transport means for transporting the edible body to the marking area,
Supply means for supplying an edible body to the holding unit;
A transport position detecting means for detecting a transport position of the edible body by the transport means;
A laser beam scanning means for scanning a laser beam applied to the edible body conveyed to the marking area;
Detecting means for detecting a filling state of each holding portion of the conveying means between the supply means and the laser beam scanning means;
A plurality of the holding portions are formed along both the transport direction of the transport means and the direction perpendicular to the transport direction,
The laser beam scanning unit scans the laser beam based on the detection by the transport position detection unit, thereby sequentially marking the edible bodies held in the holding units, and the detection unit edible. Laser beam emission is controlled so that marking is not performed on the holding unit that does not detect the body, and a plurality of holding units formed along the direction perpendicular to the conveying direction can be held. At the time of marking on the food body, a transport amount in the transport direction of the transport unit is calculated based on the detection of the transport position detection unit, and the position of each edible body is irradiated with laser light based on the transport amount A laser marking device for edible body, wherein the laser beam is scanned so that the position is corrected .   The holding part includes a suction part and a pair of contact parts, and the edible body supplied from the supply means to the holding part is in contact with the pair of contact parts by its own weight. The laser marking device for edible bodies according to claim 1, wherein the edible body laser marking device is configured to be sucked and held by a suction portion.   The edible body laser marking device according to claim 2, wherein the holding portion includes a recess having the suction portion formed on a bottom surface, and the pair of contact portions includes a V-shaped inner wall surface of the recess.   The laser marking for edible body according to claim 2, wherein the suction part is configured to be able to suck an edible body by a negative pressure, and the holding part includes a groove part extending through the suction part. apparatus.   The said supply means is equipped with the attitude | position adjustment means which adjusts the attitude | position of an edible body so that the to-be-marked surface of the edible body hold | maintained at the said holding | maintenance part may become predetermined direction. The laser marking apparatus for edible bodies described. The posture adjusting means is
A supply chute for vertically holding a plurality of edible bodies, and
A cutout roller that sequentially cuts and holds the edible body at the bottom held in alignment and holds it on the outer circumferential surface,
The edible body laser marking device according to claim 5, further comprising: a supply roller that sucks and holds the edible body conveyed by the cutting roller on an outer peripheral surface and supplies the edible body to each holding portion of the conveying means by rotation. .   The edible body laser marking device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the transport means includes a transport drum that includes the holding portion on an outer peripheral surface and transports the edible body by rotational driving.   The edible body laser marking device according to claim 7, wherein the transport position detecting unit detects a transport position of the edible body based on detection of a rotational position of the transport drum. The transport drum is formed with a plurality of holding portions along both the axial direction and the circumferential direction,
The laser for edible body according to claim 7 or 8, wherein the laser beam scanning unit sequentially marks the edible body conveyed in the circumferential direction of the conveyance drum along the axial direction of the conveyance drum. Marking device.   10. The laser beam scanning unit corrects the scanning of the laser beam by calculating a conveyance amount of the conveyance drum based on detection of the conveyance position detection unit in a state where the conveyance drum continuously rotates. The edible laser marking device according to any one of the above.   The marking according to any one of claims 1 to 10, further comprising marking inspection means for photographing the marking applied to the edible body by the laser beam scanning means in a state where the edible body is held by the holding portions. Laser marking device for food.   The laser marking device for edible bodies according to any one of claims 1 to 11, wherein the edible body is any one of a tablet, a capsule, and an empty capsule.   The edible body laser marking device according to any one of claims 1 to 12, wherein the detection unit includes an appearance inspection device capable of photographing an exposed surface of the edible body conveyed by the conveyance unit.