JP7340257B2 - coating equipment - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a coating apparatus that performs coating, mixing, drying, etc. of powdered materials such as pharmaceuticals, foods, agricultural chemicals, etc., and particularly relates to a coating apparatus equipped with a rotating drum that is driven to rotate around its axis.

In order to apply film coating or sugar coating to tablets, soft capsules, pellets, granules, and other similar products (hereinafter collectively referred to as powder and granules) of pharmaceuticals, foods, agricultural chemicals, etc., A coating device with a vented rotating drum that is rotationally driven is used.

In order to improve coating quality, this type of coating equipment uses an optical sensor to measure the physical properties of the powder particles in the powder layer in the rotating drum, such as moisture, during the coating process, and based on the measurement results. The conditions of the coating process are controlled by using the following methods (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

Patent No. 5813310

By the way, in order to measure (detect) the physical properties of the powder particles in the powder layer in the rotating drum using an optical sensor, it is necessary to compare the actual measured values of the physical properties of the powder particles with the measurement results of the optical sensor in advance. It is necessary to create a calibration curve that shows the correlation. This calibration curve is based on the actual measured values of the physical properties of the powder particles sampled at multiple points during the coating process (values measured using a measuring device of the physical properties of the powder particles) and the optical sensor measurements at each sampling point. By using this calibration curve, the physical property values of the powder particles can be detected from the measurement results of the optical sensor during the coating process.

However, conventionally, when creating the above-mentioned calibration curve, the relationship between the sampling of powder particles and the measurement of powder particles by an optical sensor has not been considered, and the relationship between the sampled powder particles and the optical sensor The accuracy of the calibration curve described above decreases due to differences in the measured powder particles, and as a result, the accuracy of the calibration curve described above decreases, and as a result, the accuracy of the powder particles detected using the calibration curve described above is Accuracy of physical property values decreases. This results in less control of coating process conditions based on real-time monitoring by optical sensors.

In view of the above-mentioned circumstances, the technical object of the present invention is to provide a configuration of a coating apparatus that allows the above-mentioned calibration curve to be created with high accuracy.

A coating apparatus according to the present invention, which was invented to solve the above problems, includes a rotating drum in which powder and granular material to be treated is housed and driven to rotate around its axis, and a powder inside the rotating drum. A coating device comprising: a measuring section that measures the physical properties of powder particles in a granular layer; and a sampling section that collects some of the powder particles from the powder layer, the measuring section comprising: The sampling section includes a light-transmitting member installed on the wall of the rotating drum, and an optical sensor that measures the physical properties of the powder particles in the powder layer through the light-transmitting member. a particle collecting section installed on the wall of the rotating drum, the particle collecting section being installed at a position on the rear side in the rotational direction with respect to the transparent member when the rotating drum rotates in a predetermined direction; It is characterized in that powder particles whose physical properties have been measured by the optical sensor can be collected through the light-transmitting member.

According to this configuration, when the rotary drum rotates in a predetermined direction, the powder particles whose physical properties are measured by the optical sensor can be collected by the particle collecting section through the light-transmitting member. Therefore, it becomes possible to collect the same powder particles as the powder particles measured by the optical sensor using the particle sampling section, and to actually measure the physical properties of the powder particles. This makes it possible to create a calibration curve with high precision by associating the actual measured values of the physical properties of the powder particles collected by the particle collection unit with the measurement results of the optical sensor. That is, according to the coating apparatus according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a configuration of the coating apparatus that enables accurate creation of a calibration curve. This makes it possible to improve the accuracy of the physical property values of the powder particles detected using a calibration curve from the measurement results of the optical sensor during the coating process. Furthermore, it becomes possible to improve the control of coating process conditions based on real-time monitoring by optical sensors.

In the above configuration, the rotating drum includes, along the direction of the axis, a front end wall, a peripheral wall connected to the front end wall, and a rear end wall connected to the peripheral wall, and the transparent member and the particle collection section may be installed on the front end wall or the rear end wall.

With this configuration, in the coating apparatus, the rotating drum includes, along the direction of the axis of the rotating drum, a front end wall, a peripheral wall connected to the front end wall, and a rear end wall connected to the peripheral wall. , the above-mentioned effects can be enjoyed.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a configuration of a coating device that enables accurate creation of a calibration curve. This makes it possible to improve the accuracy of the physical property values of the powder particles detected using a calibration curve from the measurement results of the optical sensor during the coating process. Furthermore, it becomes possible to improve the control of coating process conditions based on real-time monitoring by optical sensors.

1 is a schematic vertical sectional view of a coating apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic view of the coating apparatus viewed from the front, and is a diagram showing the positions of a measurement section and a particle collection section of a sampling section on the rear end wall of the rotating drum. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the coating device seen from the side. 3 is an enlarged view of section A in FIG. 2. FIG. It is a schematic diagram of the vicinity of the particle collection part of a sampling part, (A) is a longitudinal cross-sectional view, and (B) is a back view. (A) is a schematic rear view of the rotating drum, and (B) is a sectional view taken along the line BB of (A). FIG. 3 is a schematic rear view of the rotating drum.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

As shown in FIG. 1, the coating apparatus according to this embodiment includes a ventilated rotary drum 1 that is driven to rotate around an axis X that is parallel or substantially parallel to the horizontal line. The rotating drum 1 is rotatably housed inside a casing 2 and is rotationally driven by a rotational drive mechanism 3 disposed on the rear end side. Further, inside the rotating drum 1, a spray nozzle unit 4 having one or more spray nozzles 4a for spraying a spray liquid such as a membrane material liquid toward the powder layer S is arranged.

In this embodiment, the rotating drum 1 includes, along the axis X direction, a front end wall 1a, a peripheral wall 1b connected to the front end wall 1a, and a rear end wall 1c connected to the peripheral wall 1b. A front end opening 1a1 is provided at the front end of the portion 1a, and a rear end opening 1c1 is provided at the rear end of the rear end wall 1c. The front end wall portion 1a gradually increases in diameter toward the rear. The diameter of the rear end wall portion 1c gradually decreases toward the rear. In the example shown in the figure, the front end opening 1a1 is constituted by a conically tapered mouth ring whose diameter gradually increases toward the front. Ventilation into the interior of the rotating drum 1 is performed through the front end opening 1a1 and/or the rear end opening 1c1. After passing through the powder layer (rolling bed of powder) S formed inside the rotating drum 1, the gas ventilated into the rotating drum 1 passes through the ventilation section provided in the peripheral wall 1b. The air is exhausted to the outside of the rotating drum 1 through the rotary drum 1.

As shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, the coating apparatus according to this embodiment has the physical properties (coating thickness, moisture, The measuring unit 5 includes a measurement unit 5 that measures coating performance (coating performance, impurities, etc.), and a sampling unit 6 that collects some powder particles from the powder layer S. Note that in FIG. 3, illustration of the sampling unit 6 is omitted for easy understanding.

The measurement unit 5 includes a light-transmitting member 5a installed on the rear end wall 1c of the rotating drum 1, and an optical sensor 5b that measures the physical properties of the powder particles in the powder layer S through the light-transmitting member 5a. has. Further, the sampling section 6 includes a particle sampling section 6a installed on the rear end wall portion 1c of the rotating drum 1.

In the rear end wall portion 1c of the rotating drum 1, the particle collecting section 6a is installed at a position that is on the rear side in the rotational direction with respect to the transparent member 5a when the rotating drum 1 rotates in the direction indicated by the arrow C. When the rotating drum 1 rotates in the direction indicated by the arrow C, the particle collecting section 6a can collect powder particles whose physical properties have been measured by the optical sensor 5b through the light-transmitting member 5a. Note that the rotation of the rotating drum 1 in the direction indicated by the arrow C is performed during the coating process of the powder or granular material.

The light-transmitting member 5a is made of, for example, transparent glass. Further, in this embodiment, the light-transmitting member 5a has a flat plate shape, but is not limited to this, and may have a curved plate shape, for example. The optical sensor 5b is, for example, a near-infrared (NIR) sensor of a spectrometer. Detection information from the optical sensor 5b is sent to a processing section 5d of an NIR spectrometer disposed outside the casing 2 via a cable 5c. Note that when the optical sensor 5b is an NIR sensor, when the NIR is irradiated onto the transparent member 5a, the direction of the NIR irradiation is between the plate surface of the transparent member 5a (the external surface and the internal surface of the rotating drum 1). It is preferable that the optical sensor 5b is installed so as to form an acute angle with respect to ). By being installed in this way, good data can be obtained from the optical sensor 5b.

The surface of the transparent member 5a on the inner side of the rotary drum 1 is substantially flush with the inner surface of the rear end wall portion 1c of the rotary drum 1. The inner surface of the rotating drum 1 in the particle collecting section 6a is also substantially flush with the inner surface of the rear end wall portion 1c of the rotating drum 1. In addition, in this embodiment, the surface (inner surface) on the inside side of the rotating drum 1 in the transparent member 5a and the surface (inner surface) on the inside side of the rotating drum 1 in the particle collecting part 6a are respectively the rear end wall part 1c. When viewed from a direction perpendicular to , it has a circular shape, but is not particularly limited to this shape, and may have other shapes. In addition, in FIGS. 2 and 4, the inner surfaces of the light-transmitting member 5a and the particle collection part 6a appear to be elliptical in a strict sense, but they are schematically shown as circular. In this illustrated example, the centers of the circular inner surfaces of the light-transmitting member 5a and the particle collecting section 6a are on the same circle centered on the axis X.

The spot diameter of the optical sensor 5b is, for example, 8 to 10 mm. The diameter of the circular inner surface of the transparent member 5a is larger than the spot diameter of the optical sensor 5b. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 4, the range R detected by the optical sensor 5b on the light-transmitting member 5a has an arc band shape extending along the circumferential direction of the rotating drum 1. Note that FIG. 4 shows only the powder particles within the range R detected by the optical sensor 5b and the powder particles on the particle sampling section 6a.

In FIG. 4, the diameter of the circular inner surface of the particle collecting section 6a is also larger than the spot diameter of the optical sensor 5b. Moreover, in FIG. 4, the diameter of the circular inner surface of the particle collection part 6a is smaller than the diameter of the circular inner surface of the light-transmitting member 5a. Further, the shortest distance d between the circular inner surface of the light-transmitting member 5a and the circular inner surface of the particle collecting section 6a is, for example, 40 mm to 60 mm.

The timing at which the optical sensor 5b measures the physical properties of the powder particles through the light-transmitting member 5a can be set, for example, by a rotation pulse of a rotating drum, reflected light detection by the optical sensor 5b, or the like.

For example, the measurement timing of the optical sensor 5b is adjusted so that the powder particles whose physical properties are measured by the optical sensor 5b through the light-transmitting member 5a are the same as the powder particles collected by the particle collecting section 6a. The timing for collecting powder particles in the particle collecting section 6a is set in consideration of the rotational speed of the rotating drum, the distance between the transparent member 5a and the particle collecting section 6a, and the like.

However, in reality, it is assumed that powder particles whose physical properties have not been measured by the optical sensor 5b may be mixed in the powder particles collected by the particle sampling section 6a. In such a case, for example, it is conceivable to examine the actual measured values of the physical properties of each particle of the powder particles collected by the particle sampling section 6a, and to employ the actual measured values with a large distribution for creating the calibration curve. In other words, in this case, powder particles whose actual value has a large distribution are regarded as powder particles measured by the optical sensor 5b, and powder particles whose actual value has a small distribution are measured by the optical sensor 5b. It is considered to be a powder particle that has not been formed.

When creating a calibration curve, powder particles whose physical properties have been measured by the optical sensor 5b are sampled (collected) by the particle sampling section 6a at multiple points during the coating process. Then, the physical properties of the sampled powder particles are measured using a measuring device different from the optical sensor 5b to obtain actual measured values. Next, a calibration curve is created by associating the actual measured values of the physical properties of the powder particles at each sampling time with the measurement results (spectral data, etc.) by the optical sensor 5b.

During normal coating processing, information regarding the physical properties of the powder particles in the powder layer S that is in contact with the inner surface of the light-transmitting member 5a is obtained by the optical sensor 5b via the light-transmitting member 5a while using a calibration curve. Measurement is performed in real time, the data is processed and monitored by the processing section 5d of the NIR spectrometer, and depending on the results, coating operation conditions (supply air flow rate, supply air temperature, spray conditions, By appropriately adjusting the number of rotations of the rotating drum 1, etc., it becomes possible to perform high-quality coating processing.

As shown in FIG. 5, the sampling section 6 includes a main body section 6b attached to the through hole 1c2 of the rear end wall section 1c of the rotating drum 1, a sampling port 6c through which powder particles can pass, and a sampling port 6c. It is provided with a lid part 6d that opens and closes, and a forward/backward drive part 6e that moves the lid part 6d forward and backward in and out of the rotary drum 1 with respect to the rear end wall part 1c of the rotary drum 1. In this embodiment, the sampling port 6c and the lid 6d constitute a particle sampling section 6a.

Further, the main body portion 6b is provided with a passage 6f through which the powder particles that have passed through the collection port 6c pass, and an outlet 6g through which the powder particles that have passed through the passage 6f are discharged.

The forward and backward drive unit 6e is constituted by a linear actuator, for example a fluid pressure cylinder, particularly a pneumatic cylinder. At least the peripheral portion of the lid portion 6d is made of a flexible material such as silicone rubber or silicone resin.

As shown by the two-dot chain line in FIG. 5(A), when the lid part 6d moves toward the inside of the rotary drum 1 with respect to the rear end wall part 1c of the rotary drum 1 by the advance/retreat drive part 6e, the collection is performed. The mouth 6c is in an open state (the sampling section 6 is in an open state). As a result, the powder particles flow into the passage 6f from the collection port 6c, the flowed powder particles pass through the passage 6f, and are discharged from the discharge port 6g.

From this state, when the cover part 6d is moved backward toward the outside of the rotary drum 1 with respect to the rear end wall part 1c of the rotary drum 1 by the advance/retreat drive part 6e, as shown by the solid line in FIG. 5(A), The sampling port 6c is closed by the lid portion 6d (the sampling portion 6 is in a closed state). This makes it impossible for powder particles to flow into the passage 6f from the sampling port 6c.

The advancing position of the lid part 6d when the sampling part 6 is in the open state is such that the powder particles entering the sampling port 6c move from the inner surface of the rear end wall part 1c in the powder layer S to the powder of the first layer. It is preferable that the particles be set to be granular particles. This is because the powder particles whose physical properties are measured by the optical sensor 5b through the light-transmitting member 5a are mainly the powder particles of the first layer from the inner surface of the rear end wall 1c in the powder layer S. This is because they are particles.

As shown in FIGS. 6(A) and 6(B), a gutter-shaped chute portion 7 for receiving powder particles discharged from the sampling portion 6 is installed on the back side of the rotating drum 1. The chute section 7 is indirectly fixed to the casing 2, and the rotating drum 1 is rotatable with respect to the chute section 7. When the rotary drum 1 rotates, at least a portion of the area around the discharge port 6g of the sampling section 6 enters into the chute section 7 from the upper opening 7a of the chute section 7 and passes through the chute section 7. It is configured. The chute section 7 receives the powder particles discharged from the discharge port 6g of the sampling section 6 at the bottom section 7b, guides them, and discharges them from the lower opening section 7c provided below. The powder particles discharged from the lower opening 7c are further discharged to the outside of the casing 2 via a passage (not shown).

When sampling powder particles during the coating process to create a calibration curve, the sampling unit 6 performs the following operations. That is, when the sampling section 6 in the closed state reaches the position shown in FIG. 6(A) due to the rotation of the rotary drum 1, the sampling section 6 switches to the open state (sampling starts). Then, when the sampling section 6 reaches the position shown in FIG. 7 due to the rotation of the rotary drum 1 while the sampling section 6 remains in the open state, the sampling section 6 switches to the closed state (sampling ends). In the illustrated example, the position of the sampling unit 6 in FIG. 6(A) is a position rotated by 60° from a position vertically downward from the axis X of the rotary drum 1. The position of the sampling section 6 in FIG. 7 is a position rotated by 120 degrees from a position vertically downward from the axis X of the rotary drum 1.

The coating apparatus configured as described above can enjoy the following effects.

When the rotary drum 1 rotates in a predetermined direction, the powder particles whose physical properties are measured by the optical sensor 5b can be collected by the particle collecting section 6a through the light-transmitting member 5a. Therefore, it becomes possible to collect the same powder particles as the powder particles measured by the optical sensor 5b using the particle collecting section 6a, and to actually measure the physical properties of the powder particles. Thereby, it becomes possible to create a calibration curve with high precision by associating the actual measured values of the physical properties of the powder particles collected by the particle collection unit 6a with the measurement results of the optical sensor 5b. That is, according to the coating apparatus according to the present embodiment, it is possible to provide a configuration of the coating apparatus that makes it possible to create a calibration curve with high accuracy. This makes it possible to improve the accuracy of the physical property values of the powder particles detected using a calibration curve from the measurement results of the optical sensor 5b during the coating process. Furthermore, it becomes possible to improve the control of coating processing conditions based on real-time monitoring by the optical sensor 5b.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the technical idea. For example, in the above embodiment, both the light-transmitting member 5a and the particle collecting section 6a are installed on the rear end wall 1c of the rotating drum 1, but both the light-transmitting member 5a and the particle collecting section 6a are It may be installed on the front end wall portion 1a of the drum 1.

Further, in the above embodiment, the coating apparatus is of a type in which the axis X of the rotating drum 1 is parallel or substantially parallel to the horizontal line, but the coating apparatus is of a type in which the axis line of the rotating drum is inclined with respect to the horizontal line. You can.

1 Rotating drum 1a Front end wall 1c Rear end wall 5 Measuring section 5a Transparent member 5b Optical sensor 6 Sampling section 6a Particle sampling section 6c Sampling port (particle sampling section)
6d Lid part (particle collection part)
C Arrow (predetermined rotation direction of the rotating drum)
S Powder layer X Axis

Claims (2)

a rotating drum in which a powder or granular material to be treated is accommodated and rotationally driven around its axis; a measuring section that measures physical properties of powder particles in a powder or granular layer inside the rotating drum; A coating device comprising a sampling section for collecting some powder particles from a powder layer,
The measurement unit includes a light-transmitting member installed on the wall of the rotating drum, and an optical sensor that measures the physical properties of the powder particles in the powder layer through the light-transmitting member,
The sampling section includes a particle sampling section installed on the wall of the rotating drum, and the particle sampling section is arranged on the rear side in the rotational direction with respect to the transparent member when the rotating drum rotates in a predetermined direction. is installed at a position where it is possible to collect powder particles whose physical properties are measured by the optical sensor through the light-transmitting member , and whose physical properties are measured by the sensor through the light-transmissive member. A coating apparatus characterized in that timing for collecting powder particles is set so that the powder particles and the powder particles collected by the particle collecting section are the same. The rotating drum includes, along the direction of the axis, a front end wall, a peripheral wall connected to the front end wall, and a rear wall connected to the peripheral wall, and the transparent member and the particle collection section. 2. The coating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein both are installed on the front end wall or the rear end wall.

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