JPH0238903B2 - KAPUSERUGAIKANKENSASOCHI - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Technical Field to which the Invention Pertains] The present invention relates to a capsule appearance inspection device. The present invention relates to an improvement of a capsule visual inspection device effective for detecting capsules.

[Prior art and its problems]

FIG. 1a is an external view of the capsule to show that the cap 1 and body 2 are in a temporary bonded state in an empty capsule before being filled with a drug, and FIG. 1b is an external view of the capsule after being filled. This is an external view showing that the two are in a fully connected state.

In Fig. 1b, the tip of the body 2 has penetrated deep into the cap 1, and the body and the slit are fully connected, whereas in Fig. 1a,
It will be seen that the tip of the body 2 does not go all the way into the cap 1 and is in a temporarily connected state.

Note that 3 indicates a locking hole (also referred to as a notch) for locking the cap and body together with a snap when they are fully connected.

The body and cap, which are in this temporary bonded state, have a weak bonding force and are therefore easy to separate from each other. Therefore, when such an empty capsule is subjected to a visual inspection device and subjected to vibration, the cap comes off from the body and is later joined to the body of another normal capsule, resulting in a defective capsule (twin cap) as shown in Figure 2. ) may be made.

A device for automatically detecting defective capsules called twin caps by visual inspection rather than by visual inspection has already been proposed by the present inventors (eg, Japanese Patent Application No. 158178/1982).

In the above proposal, as seen in Figure 2,
Noting that there are always two notches 3 in a twin cap, twin caps are detected by detecting these using an optical sensor 6 shown in FIG.

In FIG. 3, light emitted from a light source 7 is condensed by a condenser lens 8, the optical path is bent by 45 degrees by a half mirror 9, and the light is irradiated onto a capsule 5 via a lens 10. The light reflected on the capsule surface enters a photodiode 12 via a lens 10, a half mirror 9, and an aperture 11.
The amount of incident light is photoelectrically converted by the photodiode 12, and its output is led to a judgment circuit (not shown) to judge whether the twin cap is appropriate or not. FIG. 5 shows the output waveform of the photodiode 12 when the optical sensor 6 is used to inspect the capsule 5 which is being transported while rotating.

In FIG. 5, since the capsule advances while rotating, the optical scanning direction by the sensor is Y ₁ ,
The direction will be as shown by Y ₂ . The lock hole 3 will be described assuming that two scans, _Y1 and _Y2, have been performed.

Area A corresponds to the tip of the cap 1, and since the tip becomes more rounded, the amount of reflected light reaching the sensor decreases. In areas ○R to ○, where the cap 1 and body 2 overlap, the amount of reflected light is greater than in the case of the cap alone or the body alone, as in areas ○A or ○G. In areas ○C and ○Ho, the amount of reflected light is reduced due to the depressions caused by the lock holes 3, respectively. Area ○g is similar to area ○b.

The reason why the output waveform has a concave shape in areas ○C and ○H in FIG. 5 will be explained with reference to FIG. 4, which shows an enlarged cross-section of the notch 3.

In FIG. 4, in the flat region A, the light 15 irradiated from the sensor is specularly reflected 360 degrees in the optical axis direction of the sensor, so that the amount of light reaching the photodiode is large. However, in the inclined region B, since the light is reflected in a direction different from the optical axis of the sensor as in the reflection 16, the amount of light reaching the photodiode is small.

As explained above, in the above proposal, as shown in areas ○C and ○H of the output waveform shown in FIG. Whether the capsule is a twin cap capsule or not is determined by whether it is present or not.

Now, as already explained, when the capsule is scanned using the optical sensor 6 shown in FIG. 3, the output waveform shown in FIG. The amount of reflected light reaching the diode 12 becomes very small, and in particular becomes almost zero when the capsule is made of a transparent material (as shown by the dotted line B in FIG. 5). Therefore, even if an attempt is made to detect a defect occurring in the spherical portion, it is difficult to detect the defect because the amount of light reflected from the spherical portion is almost zero.

An optical sensor (coaxial reflective optical inspection device) that solves this problem has already been proposed by the present inventor (for example, Utility Model Application No. 87070/1982). That is, according to this proposal, by further providing auxiliary illumination sources 21-1 and 21-2 to the optical sensor shown in FIG. 3 to construct a sensor as shown in FIG. The output waveform shown by the solid line in the figure is obtained. According to this waveform, it can be seen that the inspection range of each spherical portion at both ends of the capsule is expanded (the amount of reflected light is increased) compared to the conventional waveform shown by the dotted line.

By the way, when the notch shown in FIG. 4 is scanned using the optical sensor shown in FIG. 6, the notch is illuminated from a wide range of angles by the auxiliary illumination sources 21-1 and 21-2. , the amount of change in the waveform of each recess (the depth of the recess) seen in areas ○C and ○H in FIG. 5 is smaller than when the sensor shown in FIG. 3 is used. In other words, the previously proposed sensor shown in Fig. 6 is suitable for inspecting defects occurring in the spherical parts at both ends of the capsule, but is not suitable for detecting the notch in the cap; The problem is that it is difficult.

[Purpose of the invention]

The present invention has been made in order to solve the problems of the prior art as described above, and therefore, an object of the present invention is to enable inspection of defects occurring in the spherical portions at both ends of the capsule, and to improve the quality of the capsule. It is an object of the present invention to provide a capsule appearance inspection device that can easily detect a notch in a cap.

[Key points of the invention]

In the conventional optical sensor shown in Fig. 6, the auxiliary illumination source 2 makes it difficult to inspect the notch.
1-1 and 21-2. However, these auxiliary illumination sources are only effective for inspecting both ends of the capsule. Therefore, in the present invention, the effective period of the auxiliary illumination source is controlled in synchronization with the transport position of the capsule so that the auxiliary illumination source can be used only when inspecting both ends of the capsule. .

[Embodiments of the invention]

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 8 is a side sectional view showing one embodiment of the present invention. In this figure, the same or corresponding elements as in FIGS. 3 and 6 are given the same reference numerals. In addition, 22 is an auxiliary illumination source 21-
1 and 21-2 are light guides for guiding light sources, 24 is a conveying member for the capsule 5, 23 is an aperture located at a position corresponding to one end of the light guide 22 with the conveying member 24 in between, and 27 is a light source. , is.

FIG. 9 is a top view of the conveying member 24. In the figure, 25 is a slit (a hole punched vertically in the conveying member 24), and 26 is a pocket for accommodating the capsule 5. Slit 25 and pocket 26
As shown in the figure, the slits 25 are arranged at mutually shifted positions, and the slits 25 are provided at positions corresponding to both ends of the capsule 5, as is clear from FIG. 10, which will be described later.

FIG. 10a shows the auxiliary illumination source 21 in FIG.
10b is a waveform diagram showing changes in the amount of light reflected from the capsule 5 reaching the photodiode 12. FIG.

The operation of one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 8 to 10.

The illumination light from the auxiliary illumination sources 21-1 and 21-2 is transmitted to the light source 2 using a light guide 22 using fibers.
Lead from 7. That is, one end of the light guide 22 is located on the upper surface of the slit 25 that moves in the direction of the arrow, and an aperture 23 and a light source 27 are provided at corresponding positions on the opposite side of the transport member 24 as shown. Therefore, the amount of auxiliary illumination light reaching the light guide 22 from the light source 27 via the aperture 23 and the slit 25 in the conveying member 24 changes as shown in FIG. 10a as the conveying member 24 moves in the direction of the arrow.

With the above configuration, photodiode 1
The amount of reflected light from the capsule 5 reaching 2 is the 10th
The changes shown in Figure b are shown. That is, the auxiliary illumination light illuminates only both ends of the capsule 5 through the slit 25, and at other times the auxiliary illumination light is blocked by the conveying member 24 and becomes dark, and the notch 3 is illuminated only by the main illumination light. illuminated. Therefore, since the auxiliary illumination light does not interfere with the detection of the notch 3, the notch 3 is reliably detected by the main illumination light.

Next, modified embodiments of the present invention will be described.

In the configuration shown in FIG. 8, the amount of auxiliary illumination light gradually changes as shown in FIG. 10a. The slope of change Δθ is determined by the aperture of the light guide 22, and as the aperture is increased, the slope becomes larger and the range of illumination of the capsule by the auxiliary illumination light becomes wider, which is undesirable since unnecessary parts are also illuminated.

FIG. 11 shows an embodiment in which the influence of the aperture of the light guide 22 mentioned above is eliminated.

In FIG. 11, 28a is a light source (a light source placed at the same position as the light source 27 in FIG. 8);
8b is a photoelectric converter, and both constitute a photo sensor. 29 is Shyatsuta (11th A)
The figure is a plan view of the shutter 29), 30 is a drive device such as a step motor, and 31 is a shutter control device.

The slit 2 in the conveying member 24 is detected by a photo sensor consisting of a light source 28a and a photoelectric converter 28b.
5, the illumination light from the light source 27 is passed through the opening P of the shutter 29 to the light guide 2.
2, and while the photo sensor is not detecting the slit 25, the shutter 29 is closed and the light source 2 is not detected.
7 to the light guide 22.
The control device 31 controls the shutter 2 via the drive device 30.
The rotation of 9 is controlled.

In this way, the light source 28a and the photoelectric converter 2
8b can be made sufficiently smaller than that of the light guide 22, and the driving device 30 such as a step motor can be
If the shutter 29 is driven in high-speed steps using the shutter 29, the slope Δθ in FIG. 10a can be brought close to zero, and only both ends of the capsule can be sharply illuminated.

Further, according to this embodiment, there is an advantage that the required length of the light guide 22 can be shortened.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the present invention, the auxiliary illumination source illuminates only the vicinity of the spherical portions at both ends of the capsule and does not illuminate the vicinity of the notch, so that the inspection of the vicinity of the notch is not obstructed by the auxiliary illumination. Despite expanding the capsule inspection range, it has the advantage of being able to reliably detect notches and twin caps with high accuracy.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figure 1a is an external view of the capsule in which the cap and body are temporarily connected, Figure 1b is an external view of the fully connected state, Figure 2 is an external view of a defective capsule (twin cap), and Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view showing an outline of a conventionally used optical sensor, Fig. 4 is an explanatory drawing showing a decrease in the amount of reflected light in a recess such as a lock hole, and Fig. 5 is an optical sensor that detects a rotating capsule. A waveform diagram showing the waveform of the sensor output obtained by scanning, FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing an outline of a conventional optical sensor that is an improved version of the sensor in FIG. 3, and FIG. 7 is a waveform diagram showing the waveform of the sensor output obtained by scanning. FIG. 8 is a side sectional view showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 9 is a top view of the conveying member 24 in FIG. 8, and FIG. 10a is an auxiliary diagram showing the output waveform obtained. A waveform diagram showing changes in the amount of light guided to the illumination source, FIG. 10b is a waveform diagram showing changes in the amount of reflected light from the capsule reaching the photodiode in FIG. 8, and FIG. 11 shows another embodiment of the present invention. An explanatory diagram, FIG. 11A, shows the shutter 29 in FIG.
This is a plan view of. Code explanation, 1...Cap, 2...Body, 3
... Notsuchi, 5 ... Capsule, 6 ... Optical sensor, 7 ... Light source, 8 ... Condenser lens, 9 ...
...Half mirror, 10...Objective lens, 11...
Aperture, 12...Photodiode, 15...
...Illumination light, 16...Reflected light, 22...Auxiliary lighting light guide, 23...Aperture, 24...Transporting member, 25...Slit, 26...Capsule storage pocket, 27...Light source, 28a... light source, 2
8b...Photoelectric converter, 29...Shutter, 30...
...Drive device, 31...Shutter control device.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. With respect to the surface of a capsule that is being transported in the axial direction while rotating around the capsule axis, from a direction perpendicular to the capsule axis on a plane that includes the capsule axis, regardless of the transport operation of the capsule. A capsule external appearance comprising a first illumination means for illuminating, and a second illumination means for illuminating from at least two directions forming a predetermined angle in the longitudinal direction of the capsule, front and back with respect to the optical axis of the first illumination means. The inspection device further includes means for controlling illumination by the second illumination means in synchronization with the transport operation of the capsule, and the second illumination means illuminates only the vicinity of both ends of the capsule. Capsule appearance inspection equipment with special features. 2. In the capsule visual inspection apparatus according to claim 1, the illumination control means illuminates the second illumination means through slit holes provided in positions corresponding to both ends of the capsule in the capsule conveying member. A capsule appearance inspection device comprising a means for guiding light.