JPS6311253B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (a) Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to a tablet feeding device for appropriately picking out stored tablets and introducing them into a packaging mechanism in a tablet packaging machine.

(b) Prior art There are two main methods for tablet feeding devices: Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 52-34786 and Publication Utility Model No. 56-44728, respectively.
Disclosed in the issue. In the former case, a tablet alignment tube is pushed up into the tablet storage section by a solenoid drive, and the tablets are taken into the tube and extracted. This method stirs the stored tablets by pushing up, so that a stable tablet extraction operation is achieved, but there is a drawback that the operation noise becomes louder. In the latter case, several grooves are formed in the alignment wheel, the tablets are taken into the grooves while rotating the alignment wheel, and the tablets are extracted from the grooves by gravity. Although this method produces less operating noise because the tablets are extracted by the rotation of the alignment wheel, it has the disadvantage that the extraction speed is slow because the tablets are extracted by natural falling. In addition, all of the above-mentioned conventional techniques have the disadvantage that tablets are discharged by gravity, so that when the tablets are successively guided to the discharge port, several of them are discharged in unison. Moreover, according to the gravity drop method, ejection cannot be detected unless the tablet is directly detected, and a photo switch is generally used. However, the photo switch has a problem in that it may cause detection errors depending on the state of passage of the tablet, or its detection ability may deteriorate if tablet powder or the like adheres to it. Therefore, it is desirable to have a device that picks out and discharges tablets one by one without relying on natural falling, but this has the disadvantage that it takes a long time to feed the tablets.

(C) Date of invention The present invention relates to a rotary tablet feeding device, which takes out tablets in conjunction with rotational operation to ensure reliable feeding of tablets, speeds up the tablet feeding time, and moreover allows the tablets to be taken out quickly. This provides a device that can be reliably detected.

(d) Structure of the Invention The present invention comprises a tablet accommodating part, a rotating plate disposed on one side facing the tablet accommodating part, and an appropriate gap around the surface of the rotating plate facing the tablet accommodating part. a locking member attached to the rotary plate corresponding to the gap so that tablets can be locked and pushed out by reciprocating in the radial direction, and a locking member between the rotary plate and the tablet accommodating portion. A partition provided with an opening having a smaller diameter than the rotary plate so that the tablet can enter inside the rib, and a fixed wall that substantially fits the rib on the surface facing the rib so that the rib is on the inside. board and
A tablet ejection opening formed in the rotating wall facing a predetermined tablet extraction position, and an elastic plate that is attached to block the tablet ejection opening from the outside and opens when urged by the tablet pushed out by the locking device. , a magnet and a reed switch, a shielding plate that closes off the gap between the magnet and the reed switch in response to the opening/closing operation of the elastic plate, and a locking member that is biased in the direction of the center axis of the rotary plate and rotates. A control member that controls the reciprocating movement of the locking member in conjunction with the rotation of the rotary plate so that the locking member that reaches the tablet extraction position due to the rotation of the plate protrudes toward the tablet extraction port through the gap between the ribs. The configuration includes the following.

(e) Embodiments of the Invention FIGS. 1 and 2 show a side sectional view and a front sectional view, respectively, of a tablet feeding device according to the present invention. and a drive section 17, and the two are separated by a partition plate 10. In the drive unit 17, an idler pulley 20 that rotates by directly contacting the output shaft 19 of the drive DC motor 18 at its peripheral edge is a driven pulley 2.
A belt 22 is stretched together with the belt 1. Rotating plate 1
is the driven pulley 21 supported by the bearing 23
It is attached to the rotating shaft 4 of. The rotary plate 1 has a guide wall 2 around one side toward the driven pulley 21.
is extended, and a tablet storage section 1 is provided around the other side.
The ribs 7 are extended toward the direction 6. As shown in Fig. 4, the ribs 7 are arranged in four pieces at equal intervals.
The partition plate 10 includes a fixed wall 9 that substantially matches the rib 7, and the rib 7 moves inside the fixed wall 9 when the rotary plate 1 rotates. Further, at a predetermined tablet extraction position, a tablet extraction port 37 is provided in the fixed wall 9, and a gap 6 between the ribs 7 and a tablet extraction port 37 are provided in the fixed wall 9.
7, the tablet is taken out. on the other hand,
On the surface of the rotary plate 1 on which the guide wall 2 is mounted, four claw pieces 5 slidably supported on the guide plate 24 are arranged at equal intervals so as to reciprocate in the radial direction from the shaft 4. The guide wall 2 is provided with a notch 3 that faces the tip of the claw piece 5, and the claw piece 5 is provided with a shaft 25 on which a roller 26 is rotatably supported. Further, a fixed plate 27 is disposed between the driven pulley 21 and the rotary plate 1, and the fixed plate 27 has an inner circumferential wall 28 having a cam having the shape shown by the two-dot chain line in FIGS. 3 and 4. 31 is fixed. The claw piece 5 is biased by a spring 35 so as to protrude outward from the rotary plate 1 through the notch 3. Therefore, the roller 26 comes into contact with the inner circumferential wall 28 of the cam 29 and is moved inward by the rotation of the rotary plate 1. The surrounding wall 28 is moved. Therefore, the reciprocating movement of the claw piece 5 is limited to the first recess 29 and the second recess.
The shape of the inner peripheral wall 28 of the cam 31 is controlled by the shape of the inner circumferential wall 28 of the cam 31, which is provided with a recess 30 and is shown by a two-dot chain line.
It protrudes outward from the rotary plate 1 through the rotary plate 1. The locking member 12, which slides in the radial direction on the surface of the rotary plate on which the ribs 7 are formed, has one end bent toward the driven pulley 21 and attached to the tip of the claw piece 5, and the other end is bent toward the driven pulley 21 side. It is bent toward the tablet storage section 16 side to form a tablet hook 11. The cam 31, spring 35, and roller 26 are arranged so that when the claw piece 5 protrudes outward from the rotary plate 1 through the notch 3, the hook 11 also protrudes to a position where it is substantially flush with the rib 7 and ejects the tablet. are set respectively. In this way, the present invention discharges tablets by the action of a control member that is linked to the rotation of the rotary plate 1. In this example, a spring 35 that constantly biases the claw pieces 5 in the radial direction and a spring 35 that constantly biases the claw pieces 5 in the radial direction are used. A control member is constituted by the mounted roller 26 and the inner circumferential cam 31 on which the roller 26 slides. Further, as shown in FIG. 4, a push plate 13 is provided on the surface of the rotary plate 1 having the ribs 7 along the reciprocating distance of the hook 11 as the claw piece 5 reciprocates.
The partition plate 10 has a circular opening 8 whose radius is approximately the distance to the shaft 4 when the hook 11 is closest to the shaft 4.
The surface provided with this communicates with the tablet storage section 16.
Further, since the radius of the opening 8 is smaller than the distance from the rib 7 to the shaft 4, an annular groove 33 is formed between the opening periphery 32 of the opening 8 and the rib 7. The bottom surface of the tablet storage section 16 is inclined toward the opening 8, and the tablet is guided by this bottom surface through the opening 8 to the rotary plate 1, and the rib 7 located below
and are introduced into the groove 33 formed at the opening periphery 32 and aligned. Further, an elastic plate 40 is disposed from the outside at the tablet outlet 37, and its elasticity makes the outlet 37
is occluded. Furthermore, a reed switch 42 and a magnet 43 are arranged near the tablet outlet 37 as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, and a shielding plate 41 supported by an elastic plate 40 is provided between them. . The blocking plate 41 is configured to block the space between the reed switch 42 and the magnet 43 when the elastic plate 40 is blocking the tablet outlet 37.

To explain the operation of the above configuration, tablets filled from the upper part of the base body 15 are deposited in the tablet accommodating part 16, and are also introduced into the rotary plate 1 through the opening 8, and are introduced to the rib 7 located below and the opening periphery. It is aligned with the groove 33 formed at 32. Rotating plate 1 rotates in the direction of arrow A in FIG. It is biased and protrudes outward from the rotary plate 1 from the notch 3, and the roller 26 of the other claw piece 5 is regulated by the cam 31 and withdrawn in the direction of the shaft 4.
FIG. 4 shows the surface of the rotating plate 1 on which the ribs 7 are formed in correspondence with FIG. 3, and in this figure, the direction of rotation of the rotating plate 1 is indicated by an arrow B. In Figure 4,
Among the tablets aligned on the lower rib 7, the tablet located at the rearmost in the rotational direction is held by the hook 11 and the push plate 13, which are retracted in the direction of the shaft 4 by the rotation of the rotary plate 1. Ru. The tablet 36 held by the hook 11 and the push plate 13 is moved toward the tablet extraction position P while being guided by the fixed wall 9. The rotation of the rotary plate 1 causes the roller 26 to move toward the cam 3.
1, the claw piece 5 with the roller 26 attached moves slightly in the direction of the notch 3, and as a result, the locking member 12 moves in the direction of the fixed wall 9, so that it is held in the hook 11. Tablets with fixed wall 9
pushed towards. Therefore, if the tablet is held in an imperfect position by the hook 11, this fixed wall 9
Corrected by biasing in the direction. When the roller 26 comes into contact with the second recess 30 of the cam 31, the claw piece 5 fitted with the roller 26 projects outward from the rotating plate 1 through the notch 3. Therefore, as the claw piece 5 moves, the hook 11 also protrudes in the radial direction and the rib 7
The tablet 36, which has been held on the hook 11, is guided by the push plate 13 to the outside of the rotary plate 1, and is taken out from the tablet outlet 37. Then, when the rotating plate 1 rotates further and the roller 26 that was in contact with the second recess 30 of the cam 31 comes into contact with the normal inner peripheral wall 28, the claw piece 5 is regulated by the cam 31 and resists the spring 35. The hook 11 also moves in the axis 4 direction, making it possible to hold the tablets aligned with the ribs 7.

In this tablet feeding operation, as shown in FIG. 5, the elastic plate 40 closes the tablet ejection port 37 when the rotary plate 1 is not urged outward by the tablet pushed out by the locking member 12. As a result, the shielding plate 41 is connected to the reed switch 42 and the magnet 4.
3 is blocked. Therefore, magnet 43
The magnetic flux from the reed switch 42 is blocked,
Reed switch 42 is OFF. As shown in FIG.
When the shielding plate 41 moves outward, the shielding plate 41 moves upward, and the reed switch 42 and the magnet 43 directly face each other, and the reed switch 42 is turned on. Then, the locking member 1 resists the elasticity of the elastic plate 40.
2 protrudes from the gap 6 and the tablet is ejected, the elastic plate 40 closes the tablet outlet 37 again and closes the blocking plate 41.
The reed switch 42 closes the space between the reed switch 42 and the magnet 43, and the reed switch 42 is turned off. This switching of the reed switch 42 from ON to OFF is used as a tablet detection signal to control the tablet feeding device. That is, one tablet is extracted by operating the drive motor 18 in response to a predetermined tablet ejection signal and stopping the drive motor 18 when a tablet detection signal is generated. Also, when taking out multiple tablets,
The tablet detection signals are counted, and the drive motor 18 is stopped when a predetermined number of tablets have been extracted.

(F) Effects of the Invention According to the present invention, the tablets can be fed at high speed because the tablets are held and extracted in conjunction with the rotation of the rotary plate. Since the tablet is pushed out and removed from the rotary plate, tablet ejection can be detected by detecting this pushing action. Therefore, the ejection of the tablet is detected regardless of the photo switch, and the instability of detection by the photo switch is eliminated. In addition, the reed switch and magnet are fixedly arranged, and the reed switch is turned on and off to detect it by a shielding plate that moves in response to the extrusion of the tablet, so the gap between the reed switch and the magnet can be set roughly, and malfunctions can be prevented. There is an advantage that it also disappears.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a front sectional view of a tablet feeding device according to the present invention, Fig. 2 is a side sectional view, Fig. 3 is a plan view showing the side portion of the rotary plate with claw pieces, and Fig. 4 is a plan view of the rotary plate. FIGS. 5 and 6 are plan views showing the side portion provided with ribs and also showing the fitted state of the ribs and the fixing wall, and FIGS. 5 and 6 are plan views showing the action of the elastic plate when extruding the tablet. 1... Rotating plate, 6... Gap, 7... Rib, 8...
...Opening, 9...Fixed wall, 10...Partition plate, 12
... Locking member, 40 ... Elastic plate, 41 ... Closing plate, 42 ... Reed switch, 43 ... Magnet.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A tablet accommodating part, a rotating plate disposed on one side facing the tablet accommodating part, and a plurality of ribs arranged with appropriate gaps around the surface of the rotating plate facing the tablet accommodating part. , a locking member attached to the rotary plate corresponding to the gap so as to be able to lock and push out the tablet by reciprocating in the radial direction, and a locking member disposed between the rotary plate and the tablet accommodating portion. an opening having a smaller diameter than the rotary plate so that the tablet can enter inside the rib, and a fixed wall that substantially fits the rib on the surface facing the rib so that the rib is on the inside. a partition plate formed on the fixed wall facing a predetermined tablet extraction position; and a tablet ejection opening formed in the fixed wall facing a predetermined tablet extraction position; an elastic plate that opens, a magnet and reed switch that are fixedly arranged, a shielding plate that closes off between the magnet and the reed switch in response to the opening/closing operation of the elastic plate, and The rotary plate is rotated so that the locking member, which is biased in the direction of the center axis of the plate and reaches the tablet extraction position by rotation of the rotary plate, protrudes through the gap toward the tablet extraction port. and a control member that controls reciprocating movement of the locking member in conjunction with the tablet feeding device.