JPH0588144B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] <Object of the Invention><Industrial Application Field> The present invention relates to an apparatus for manufacturing gelatin capsules, and particularly relates to an apparatus for manufacturing gelatin capsules, which determines product quality. This is related to an adjustment device that is used.

<Prior Art and Problems> Conventionally, this type of gelatin capsule manufacturing equipment flows out molten gelatin from a spreader box, coats it in a sheet form on the surface of a cooling drum, and then cools it to form a gelatin sheet. Thereafter, two gelatin sheets are fed between a pair of die rolls, and the stock solution is injected from above to form gelatin capsules containing the gelatin liquid by the action of the molding protrusions on the die rolls. In this case, what determines the quality of gelatin capsules is the properties of the gelatin sheet, especially the thickness of the sheet and the contact pressure between the pair of die rolls that mold the gelatin capsules. It was attached. First, to set the sheet pressure of the gelatin sheet, an adjustment dam plate is installed on the main body that makes up the spreader box, and this adjustment dam plate is moved up and down to adjust the amount of gelatin flowing out from the spreader box. It was hot.
In addition, in order to adjust the molding state of the capsule, one of the pair of die rolls is made movable, it is elastically pressed against the other stationary die roll, and this pressure contact state is adjusted. It was on. However, conventionally, such adjustments have largely relied on the intuition of skilled engineers; for example, whether or not a desirable sheet has been formed is determined by measuring the thickness of the formed sheet and making adjustments accordingly. The method used was to repeat the process of adjusting the height of the adjustment weir plate of the spreader box until a desired sheet pressure was achieved, and then start manufacturing when the desired properties were obtained. Similarly, the same method is used between the die rolls, and the pressing pressure of the die rolls is currently set based on feeling while observing the capsule being manufactured in the preparation stage. This method wastes a lot of material in the preparatory steps before production begins, and requires skilled workers to obtain the desired product, and if such skilled workers are not available, production will be delayed. The problem was that it caused problems.

<Technical matters attempted to be developed> The present invention was developed in view of the shortcomings of the conventional methods. Therefore, it is displayed numerically, and effective adjustments can be made in accordance with predetermined numerical data or by accumulating this data.

<<Structure of the Invention>><Means for Achieving the Object> That is, the adjusting device in the gelatin capsule manufacturing apparatus of the present invention flows out molten gelatin from a spreader box, coats it in a sheet form on a cooling drum, and cools it to form gelatin. In an apparatus for molding sheets, then supplying two gelatin sheets between a pair of die rolls, injecting a stock solution from above and molding gelatin capsules containing the stock solution by the action of molding protrusions on the die rolls, the spreader The amount of gelatin flowing out of the box is adjusted by adjusting the position of an adjusting weir plate provided on the main body of the spreader box, and the amount of adjustment is numerically displayed by a gauge, while the contact between the pair of die rolls is This is achieved by elastically pressing one adjustable die roll against the other fixed die roll, and this contact pressure is numerically displayed by a pressure gauge. This aims to achieve the above objective.

<Examples> The present invention will be specifically described below based on illustrated examples. The present invention is constructed by being incorporated into a gelatin capsule manufacturing apparatus 1 described below, and these apparatuses will be described in detail below.
This gelatin capsule manufacturing apparatus 1 is roughly divided into a sheet molding section 2 and a capsule molding section 3, and these members are assembled to a frame F. First, to explain the sheet molding section 2, the capsule molding section 3 has two
Several sheets of gelatin are supplied in a pile,
Since it is molded into a spindle shape in the capsule molding section 3, a pair of sheet molding sections 2 in front and behind the capsule molding section 2 are provided on the left and right sides of the frame F. However, it is not necessarily limited to such a configuration, and for example, one sheet molding unit 2 may be used.
An appropriate method can be used, such as forming a gelatin sheet, cutting it into two pieces while reaching the capsule molding section 3, and feeding them oppositely. First, a gelatin tank 5 is provided above the sheet molding section 2. This device stores molten gelatin, and this embodiment is a relatively compact device suitable for relatively small-quantity production or experimental production, so gelatin is stored in the gelatin tank 5. Although it can be used for practical purposes even in the supplied state, if the gelatin tank 5 is to be made suitable for mass production, instead of this gelatin tank 5, a gelatin hopper or the like, which can be supplied as needed, can be suspended above the processing plant using a hoist crane or the like. Alternatively, gelatin may be supplied. A supply hose 6 is drawn out downward from the gelatin tank 5 and is provided with a valve 7 in the middle. A heater 8 is provided in the gelatin tank 5 to ensure that the gelatin is in a molten state. Gelatin is supplied from the supply hose 6 of the gelatin tank 5 to a spreader box 10 located below it, and this spreader box 10 will be described in detail below. As shown in FIGS. 4, 5, and 6, this device has a substantially wedge-shaped side surface, and consists of a main body 11 and an adjustment dam plate 12 movably attached to the front surface of the main body 11.
The main body 11 is configured to be fixed to the frame F by a fixing bracket 13. A float valve 14 is provided within this main body 11. This device consists of a valve installed between a float and the connecting end of the supply hose 6 according to a conventional method, and when enough gelatin is supplied into the spreader box 10, the float valve 1
The float at 4 rises and closes the valve, so that a constant amount of gelatin is stored in the spreader box 10 at all times. Incidentally, the main body 11 and the adjusting weir plate 12 are each provided with a heater 15 for ensuring that the gelatin is in a molten state. A slit-shaped discharge hole 16 is formed between the lower end of the main body 11 and the lower end of the adjustment dam plate 12, and the spreader box 1 is opened from there.
The melted gelatin in 0 is discharged. Next, the opening adjustment mechanism of this adjustment dam plate 12, etc. will be explained. First, reference numeral 18 is an adjustment rod having a thread formed around its periphery, and this rod is screwed into a female threaded portion 19 that is integrally attached to the adjustment dam plate 12. At the upper end of the adjustment rod 18 is a dial 20 for rotating it.
is provided, and its lower end is an abutting end 2
1 and is fixed to the main body 11 side.
It maintains contact with 2. Further, reference numeral 23 is a set spring, which acts to constantly press the adjustment weir plate 12 downward. In addition, the code 24 is the main body 1
This is a rod guide formed on one side. A dial gauge 26 is provided between the adjustment dam plate 12 and the main body 11 so that the adjustment state can be visually checked. The plunger 27 of the dial gauge 26 is in contact with a detection protrusion 28 that moves together with the adjustment dam plate 12. Therefore, the dial gauge 26
For example, if the discharge hole 16 is in the fully closed state or in the most frequently used open state, set the reference position to 0.
When adjusted, it is configured to represent the open state or fully closed state as a constant value.
Incidentally, in this embodiment, since the amount of gelatin to be discharged requires extremely delicate adjustment, and even the slightest inclination of the adjustment dam plate 12 is not allowed, dial gauges 26 are provided on the left and right sides of the adjustment dam plate 12, respectively. However, when adjusting the mechanism where the adjustment dam plate 12 hardly tilts, or even if it does, the degree of tilt is not a problem, use the dial gauge 26 or adjustment rod 18.
Of course, there is no problem in making adjustments such that only one unit is provided in the center. A cooling drum 30 faces below the spreader box 10, and as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, this drum is rotatably supported by a frame F at a shaft 31 and driven by an appropriate motor. Therefore, it is driven.
A cooling medium supply means is formed for this shaft 31, with reference numeral 32 representing a cooling medium supply hose and 33 representing a cooling medium recovery hose.
These hoses are connected to a coupling ring 34,
This is fitted onto the shaft 31 and is configured to be able to supply and recover the cooling medium. A cooling medium discharge pipe 35 and a cooling medium recovery pipe 36 are connected to the cooling drum 30 from each opening of the shaft 31.
It is formed as an extension within. Such a cooling medium is supplied or recovered from the refrigerator unit 38. In addition, refrigerator unit 3
8, a general refrigerator unit can be applied, so a detailed explanation will be omitted. The device described above becomes the sheet molding section 2, and the subsequent stage,
That is, the capsule molding section 3 is provided on the side where the gelatin sheet S is fed, and a feed roll 40 and a reversing guide 41 are formed so as to relay therebetween. That is, the gelatin sheet S, which has been cooled by circulating around the cooling drum 30, passes between the plurality of feed rolls 40 in a zigzag pattern, reaches the reversing guide 41, and is fed into the capsule molding section 3. Next, regarding this capsule molding part 3, the ninth
This will be explained with reference to Figures 10 and 11. First, code 42
A die head is a main component of the capsule molding section 3, and is composed of a die roll frame 43 and a pair of die rolls 44. Note that one of the pair of die rolls 44 is fixed and the other is configured to be freely accessible to the fixed die roll 44, and if it is necessary to distinguish between the two and explain, one of them will be referred to as the fixed die roll. 44
a, the other side will be explained as the adjustable side die roll 44b. Each die roll 44 has an appropriate molding protrusion 45 formed on its surface. For example, when forming a gelatin capsule A that is approximately spindle-shaped, the die roll 44 has an elliptic shape with a concave center. It is something. Next, to explain the adjustment mechanism of the contact pressure of this die roll 44, the bearing part 46 of the adjustable side die roll 44b is
This bearing portion 4 is formed so as to be slidable on the other stationary die roll 44a side.
A pair of front and rear leaf springs 47, 48 for pressing against 6
It is constructed so that it works. That is, the pair of leaf springs 47 and 48 come into contact with each other through the central contact part 49 whose center protrudes, and the leaf spring 47 on the side closer to the bearing part 46 contacts the bearing part 46 with both ends thereof. It acts to push the die roll 44a toward the fixed die roll 44a. An adjustment push rod 51 is in contact with both ends of the other leaf spring 48, and this adjustment push rod 51 is connected to the die roll frame 43.
The adjustment dial 52 is provided at the operating end of the adjustment push rod 51 so that a stronger contact pressure can be obtained when the adjustment push rod 51 is screwed in tightly. This contact pressure is configured to be numerically detected by a pressing force gauge 53. Next, the stock solution supply device 55 will be explained. First, a stock solution hopper 56 is provided at the top of the stock solution supply device 55, and the stock solution is stored inside the stock solution hopper 56. And below it is the pump unit 5.
7, which is constructed by combining a large number of suitable plunger pumps, etc., and sends out the stock solution from a plurality of routes at a predetermined timing, from a delivery pipe 58 to a stock solution nozzle 59, and discharges it. The stock solution nozzle 59 has a protruding shape so that its tip can fully fit between the die rolls 44. Next, each member provided below the die roll 44 that contributes to taking out the gelatin capsule A, which is a product, will be explained. First, reference numeral 61 is a take-out trough for gelatin capsules A, which is configured to be pulled out from below the die roll 44 to the front of the apparatus. And each die roll 44 has a die roll 44.
A die roll scraping brush 63 for taking out the gelatin capsule A stuck between the molding protrusions 45 is brought into contact with the molding projections 45. Furthermore, it is expected that gelatin capsule A will remain on the blank sheet S′ from which gelatin capsule A has been punched.
A blank sheet scraping brush 64 for removing gelatin capsules A from this blank sheet S' is provided oppositely so as to sandwich the blank sheet S' from both sides. Further below, there is a blank sheet feed roll 65 that actively pulls the blank sheet S′ downward.
make a profit. In this apparatus, the die roll scraping brush 63, the blank sheet scraping brush 64, and the blank sheet feed roll 65 are driven by a separate system from the other drive systems.
This drive system will be described below. Reference numeral M is a take-out motor, and rotation is transmitted from its output gear 67 to a blank sheet feed roll gear 69 via an idle gear 68. The blank sheet feed roll gears 69 are configured such that a pair of left and right blank sheet feed rolls 65 are provided and rotated in opposite directions so that the gears mesh with each other and are driven in an inverted state. Furthermore, the output sprocket 7 shares the shaft center with the output gear 67.
0, and this output sprocket 7
0, the chain 71 is tensioned and the rotation is transmitted to the relay speed reducer 72 via the chain 71. Similar to the blank sheet feed roll gear 69, this relay speed reducer 72 is configured to change the rotation direction to a pair of left and right using gears, and further drives a blank sheet scraping brush 64 through a chain 73. The rotation is transmitted to the sprocket 74. Furthermore, the rotation is transmitted to a sprocket 77 attached to the die roll scraping brush 63 through another chain 76. It should be noted that each of these transmission systems is appropriately provided with a chain tension mechanism, etc., but a description thereof will be omitted.

The present invention is embodied as a device as described above, and its operating state will be explained below.

Forming of Gelatin Sheet S To form gelatin sheet S, first, sufficiently melted gelatin in gelatin tank 5 is supplied to spreader box 10 by opening valve 7 of supply hose 6. be. At this time, if gelatin is not stored in the spreader box 10, the float valve 14 is in an open state, so the spreader box 1 is
Melted gelatin flows in so as to fill the inside of the tube with gelatin. When a certain amount of gelatin flows in, the float valve 14 is closed and the spreader box 10 is filled with a certain level of liquid. When the adjustment weir plate 12 is adjusted to an appropriate position in this state, the discharge hole 16 formed between the lower end of the adjustment weir plate 12 and the lower end of the main body 11 opens.
The molten gelatin flows out with a constant curtain pressure, and the gelatin is applied to the surface of the cooling drum 30 facing there. At this time, it is extremely important to set the thickness of the gelatin, and for this purpose, rotate the adjustment rod 18 using the dial 20.
Thereby, the set height of the adjustment weir plate 12 relative to the main body 11 is adjusted, and the opening size of the discharge hole 16 is set. That is, the adjustment rod 18 is in a state in which the contact end 21 at its lower end is in contact with the reference end 22 on the main body 11 side, and by screwing it in, the adjustment dam plate 12
The side female screw portion 19 moves up and down to set the adjustment dam plate 12. This set quantity is then expressed as a numerical value by the dial gauge 26. Therefore, if various numerical data are provided, the curtain pressure of the gelatin sheet S can be set depending on the numerical values, and even a non-skilled operator can perform the setting, which is preferable.
After the gelatin sheet S discharged onto the surface of the cooling drum 30 in this manner sufficiently contacts the surface of the rotating cooling drum 30, it is cooled and sent to the feed roll 40. The cooling in this cooling drum 30 is performed using a cooling medium from the refrigerator unit 38.
For example, a refrigerant such as a refrigerant or a fluorocarbon gas is discharged from the refrigerant supply hose 32 through the coupling 34 into the refrigerant drum 30 from the refrigerant discharge pipe 35 in the cooling drum 30, and is then recovered to form the cooling drum. 30 is sufficiently cooled. The sheet-shaped gelatin discharged onto the surface of this cooling drum 30 undergoes heat exchange there.
It is sufficiently cooled and supplied to the capsule molding section 3 in a desired viscosity state.

Capsule Molding Process In this embodiment, the gelatin sheet S supplied in this way is placed in the reversing guide 41 as an example
The direction is reversed by almost 90 degrees and reaches the capsule molding section 3. That is, as shown in FIG. 11, a pair of die rolls 4 in the capsule molding section 3
The gelatin sheet S is supplied so as to be sandwiched between the sheets 4 and 4. On the other hand, the stock solution nozzle 5 is inserted into this sandwiched part.
9 is facing and from there the stock solution is two gelatin sheets S
A fixed amount is discharged during this period. The timing of this discharge is naturally set in accordance with the state in which the molding protrusions 45 of the die roll 44 are brought into contact with each other, whereby a capsule is formed on the inner periphery of the molding protrusion 45, and the inside thereof is further filled with the stock solution. Incidentally, such a configuration itself is conventionally known. At this time, when bringing the pair of molding protrusions 45 of the die rolls 44 into contact with each other, setting the contact pressure is an extremely important adjustment operation, and this is accomplished by the following means. That is, the operator makes the adjustment by rotating each adjustment dial 52, and when the adjustment dial 52 is screwed in, for example, the adjustment push rod 51 presses both ends of the leaf spring 48, and the pressure is further increased. from the center contact portion 49 of the leaf spring 48 to the center contact portion 49 of the other leaf spring 47, and then the pressure of the leaf spring 47 is transferred from both ends to the bearing portion 4 of the adjustable die roll 44b.
6. This pressing force is displayed as a numerical value by a pressing force gauge 53 that is integrally attached to the adjustment dial 52.
Therefore, by compiling this numerical data, ideal settings can be made even by non-experts.

Recovery of gelatin capsule A Gelatin capsule A molded in this way
is recovered from a take-out trough 61 provided below the die roll 44. At this time, the molded gelatin capsules A may not necessarily be completely removed from the die roll 44 or the gelatin blank sheet S', and the following operation is performed to recover them. First, the die roll scraping brush 63 is driven by the take-out motor M to rotate to the side opposite to the die rolls 44 in contact with each other, and successively scrape off the gelatin capsules A that have been fitted into the molded protrusions 45. I will continue to do so. Then a blank sheet
The gelatin capsules A remaining on S' are thrown up by the blank sheet scraping brush 64 in the direction opposite to the running direction (downward in this embodiment) of the blank sheet', and as a result, the blank sheet is The molded gelatin capsule A is removed from the sheet S'. At this time, in order to more reliably take out the blank sheet S', the blank sheet S' is sandwiched between the blank sheet feed rolls 65 and is actively drawn downward. Furthermore, such a gelatin capsule A
a scraping brush 63 for the die roll on the take-out side of the
When driving the blank sheet scraping brush 64 and the blank sheet feed roll 65, other driven members such as the die roll 44 and the cooling drum 3 are used.
This is done completely independently of the drive source such as 0, etc., and when doing so, it is possible to independently adjust and inspect only the various devices of the extraction section, and more preferable adjustment work can be performed.

<<Effects of the Invention>> As described above, the present invention is one in which the set position of the adjustment weir plate in the spreader box and the contact pressure of the adjustable side die roll in the die roll are numerically displayed by a gauge. The machine can be adjusted and set while looking at the gauge, which not only eliminates the loss of raw materials, but also allows non-skilled workers to make machine adjustments.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an apparatus for manufacturing gelatin capsules according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a side view of the same, FIG. 3 is a front view of the same, and FIG. 5 is a front view of the same as above, FIG. 6 is a plan view of same as above, FIG. 7 is a sectional view of the cooling drum in this device, FIG. 8 is a side view of same as above, and FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing the die head portion of this device. , Fig. 10 is a plan view of the die head, Fig. 11 is an operating state diagram schematically showing the capsule molding state by the die roll, Fig. 12 is a front view showing various devices of the ejecting section, and Fig. 13 is the same driving state. FIG. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Gelatin capsule manufacturing device, 2... Sheet molding section, 3... Capsule molding section, 5... Gelatin tank, 10... Spreader box, 11
... Main body, 12 ... Adjustment weir plate, 16 ... Discharge hole,
18... Adjustment rod, 21... Contact end, 22...
... Reference end, 26 ... Dial gauge, 27 ... Plunger, 28 ... Detection protrusion, 30 ... Cooling drum, 32 ... Cooling medium supply hose, 33 ... Cooling medium recovery hose, 34 ... Coupling, 35
...Cooling medium discharge pipe, 36...Cooling medium recovery pipe,
38... Refrigerator unit, 42... Die head,
44... Die roll, 44a... Fixed side die roll, 44b... Adjustable side die roll, 45... Molded protrusion, 46... Bearing part, 47, 48... Leaf spring,
51... Adjustment push rod, 52... Adjustment dial, 53... Pressure gauge, 55... Stock solution supply device, 56... Stock solution hopper, 57... Pump unit, 58... Delivery pipe, 59... Stock solution nozzle, 63...Die roll scraping brush, 64
...Blank sheet scraping brush, 65...Blank sheet feed roll, A...Gelatin capsule, F...Frame, M...Take-out motor, S...
...Gelatin sheet, S'...Blank sheet.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 Melted gelatin is flowed out from a spreader box, coated in a sheet form on a cooling drum, cooled and formed into a gelatin sheet, then two gelatin sheets are fed between a pair of die rolls, and a gelatin sheet is applied from above. In an apparatus that injects a stock solution and molds gelatin capsules containing the stock solution by the action of molding protrusions on a die roll, the amount of gelatin flowing out from the spreader box is determined by adjusting the position of an adjustment dam plate provided on the main body of the spreader box. and the adjustment amount is displayed numerically by a gauge, while the pair of die rolls are brought into contact by elastically pressing one adjustable die roll against the other fixed die roll, An adjusting device for a gelatin capsule manufacturing apparatus, characterized in that the contact pressure is numerically displayed by a pressure gauge.