CA1258652A - Method and apparatus for arranging capped capsules in a single direction - Google Patents
Method and apparatus for arranging capped capsules in a single directionInfo
- Publication number
- CA1258652A CA1258652A CA000440809A CA440809A CA1258652A CA 1258652 A CA1258652 A CA 1258652A CA 000440809 A CA000440809 A CA 000440809A CA 440809 A CA440809 A CA 440809A CA 1258652 A CA1258652 A CA 1258652A
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- Canada
- Prior art keywords
- drum
- capsules
- capsule
- cap
- receiving holes
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
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- Medical Preparation Storing Or Oral Administration Devices (AREA)
- Basic Packing Technique (AREA)
- Vending Machines For Individual Products (AREA)
Abstract
ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE
A method and an apparatus for arranging capped capsules in a single direction, whereby many capped empty capsules are put one by one into receiving holes which are moving mechanically and while capped empty capsules are being moved, those which were put in with their cap facing upwardly are left to move as they are but those which were put in with their cap facing downwardly are turned upside down so that capped empty capsules facing in the same direction can be supplied to a filling machine.
A method and an apparatus for arranging capped capsules in a single direction, whereby many capped empty capsules are put one by one into receiving holes which are moving mechanically and while capped empty capsules are being moved, those which were put in with their cap facing upwardly are left to move as they are but those which were put in with their cap facing downwardly are turned upside down so that capped empty capsules facing in the same direction can be supplied to a filling machine.
Description
6~i~
This Invention relates to a me-thod and an apparatus for arranging capped capsules in a single direction, whereby many capped e~pty capsules are put one by one in-to receiving holes which are moving mechanically and while capped empty capsules are being moved, they are divided into those with caps facing upwardly and those with caps facing downwardly and the former is left to move as it is but the latter is turned upside down so that capped empty capsules facing in the same direction can be supplied to a filling machined.
Even at the present time when capsules are filled with medicines or the like automatically, mechanically and at high efficiency, no apparatus is available for orienting capped empty capsules automatically and it has been obliged to arrange the directions of caps manually before supplying capped empty cap-sules to a filling machine. This involves poor operation effi-ciency and requires much labor. Although some machines have been developed to orient capsule caps in a definite direction mechani-cally, from the nature of a capsule, such as it is very ligh-t in weight, is liable to generate static electricity, must be kept absolutely from soiling, and so on, it has been difficult to effect mechanical orientation of cap direction efficiently.
The present invention provides a method and an appara-tus for arranging randomly oriented capped capsules in a singledirection mechanically, automatically and at high efficiency so that at -the succeeding processes uncapping, putting of a medicine or the like into a capsule body and capping may be done mechani-cally, automatically and at high efficiency.
According to the present invention there is provided an apparatus for arranging capped capsules in a definite direction, said capsules having a cap portion which is larger than a body portion, comprising a rotatable drum having an outer surface and an inner surface, said drum having capsule receiving holes located around the ou-ter circumference of said drum, said receiv-B
ing holes passing from said ou-ter surface to said inner surface, each oF sa~d receiving holes opening into a slot haYing a width large enough -to allow only a capsule body portion to pass therethrough; a tumbling device having an upper surface which is located below the inner surface of said drum but which allows said drum to pass freely thereover, said tumbling device haYing a groove in said upper surface which is located below the inner surface of said drum, said groove having a width large enough to allow only the capsule body portion to pass therethrough, said groove having a dep-th which decreases in the direction of rota-tion of said drum such that the body portion of a capsule will be urged up and turned so that the capsule body portion enters said slot of a receiving hole; adjusting pawls caused to enter said receiving holes to turn each capsule with its body portion located in said slot to a position with the body portion facing the outer circumference of said drum, the number of said pawls being less than the number o receiving holes in said drum, each of said pawls having a top end opposite to a base por-tion and a groove in the middle thereof; means for turning an individual pawl comprising a pin which is pivotably attached to the base portion of a pawl, a small disk which is connected to said pin at an eccentric position on said disk; planetary gear means for rotating said disk, a cup which is within and rotatably connected to said rotatable drum, said cup connected to said planetary gear means for causing said disk to rotate, a guide pin flxedly attached to said cup, said guide pin passing through said groove of one of said pawls; whereby said turning means causes each pawl to enter a receiving hole and turn a misaligned capsule so that the body portion faces the outer circumference of said drum;
whereby capped capsules which were randomly supplied to receiving holes in a single revolving drum fall freely from the receiving holes with their cap portions all facing the same direction.
Suitably said drum is shaped in the form of a ring, said drum being removable from a drum fitting member which is attached to said means for rotating said drum, whereby drums having receiving holes of different Si~8S may be used for orienting capsules of ;~551~
varlous diameters.
The present invention also provides a me-thod of arrang-ing capped capsules ln a definite direction, said capsules having a cap end which is larger than a body end thereof, comprising placing a plurality of randomly oriented capsules one-by-one into a plurality of capsule receiving holes located on the surface of a single revolving drum such that some of said capsules are inverted and have cap ends thereof facing away from an axis of lo rotation of said drum and the remainder of said capsules have cap ends thereof facing toward said axis of rotation of sald drum;
overturning with respect to an outer surface of said drum only those inverted capsules placed in said drum with their cap ends facing away from said axis of rotation of said drum and trans-porting said remainder of said capsules in said drum with the capends thereof facing toward said axis of rotation of said drum without moving said remainder of sai.d capsules with respect to said drum, said overturning of said inverted capsules placed in said drum with their cap ends facing away from said center of rotation of said drum being carried out by first rotating them to a semi-inverted position with the cap ends thereof facing a direction of rotation of said revolving drum while maintaining at least the cap ends thereof in said receiving holes of said revolving drum and then completing said overturning with means located adjacent a position in relation to said drum at which all of said capsules are ejected from said receiving holes, said means completing said overturning by rotating said semi-inverted capsules to a position with cap ends thereof facing toward said axis of rotat.i.on; and removing all capsules from said drum by only rotation of said drum such that said capsules fall freely only by gravity from said capsule receiving holes at said capsule ejecting position with cap ends thereof facing said axis of ro-ta-tion of said drum.
The accompanying drawings show preferred embodiments of the present invention. In the drawings;-- 2a -:1~5~36~Z
Fig. 1 is a perspec-tive view of a mechanism of horizon--tally rota-ting sys-tem;
Fig. 2 is a side elevation, partly cut away, showing the relation between -the vertically movable rod and the capsule receiving hole;
Fig. 3 is an exploded sectional view, illustrating the movement of capsules, in which X is the case where a capsule is put in with its cap facing downwardly and Y is tha case where a capsule is put in with its cap facing upwardly;
Fig. 4 is a side elevation of a drum system of - 2b -~258~i~i2 this invention;
Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the capsule putting in position of the drum sys-tem, partly cut away; and Fig. 6 is a cross section, taken on line A - A
of Fig. 4.
DETAr~ED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Embodiment 1 -This embodiment is of horizontally rotating system and is shown in Fig. 1 - Fig. 3. Numeral 11 denotes many capsule receiving holes made in the outer circumferential part of a rotary body 12. The hole 11 comprises a starting portion or a smaller diameter portion 14 in which a capsule body 13 can enter, an intermediate portion or a composite portion 16, the upper half of which has a diameter large enough to allow a capsule cap to pass therethrough and the lower half of which has a diameter to allow only a capsule body to pass therethrough, and a terminal portion 17 having a larger diameter large enough to allow the cap 15 to pass therethrough. Numeral 18 are teeth made at the outer periphery of the rotary body 12. Numeral 19 is a transmission gear which is provided relative to a motive power part (not shown in the drawings) and moves the rotary body 12 in the direction indicated by the arrow 20.
Numeral 21 is a pusher guiding plate, with its base part 22 fixed to the machine frame, its extreme top end forming ~s~
.an inclilled part 23 in the diagonal]y upward d:irec-tion and the other part of its top end forming a plane part 24 fixed adjacent the surface of the receiving hole 11.
Numeral 25 is a bevel gear which is connected to a motive machine and is so arranged tha-t it interlocks an upper gear 27 and a lower gear 28 through the medium of a transmission gear 26. Numeral 29 is an upper rotary plate.
Numeral 30 is a lower rotary plate. These -two rotary plates are turned by means of the upper gear 27 and the lower gear 28 respectively. Numeral 31 is a vertically movable rod which is pivotally secured to the eccentric positions 32, 33 of both rotary plates 29, 30 respectively. With the turn~ng of the rotary plates 29, 30 in the direction indicated by the arrow 34, the rod 31 begins to assume a perpendicular posture and causes its lower half part to do rising and falling motion while moving its lowermost part 31a in the direction indicated by the arrow 20.
NumeraI 35 is a capsule receiving disk which is so provided that it -turns in close vicinity to the lower surface of the rotary body 12 and has capsule receiving holes 36, each made at the position corresponding to the position immediately below the larger diameter portion 17 of the hole 11 which has come round.
This embodiment is constructed as s-tated above.
Let us suppose that capsules are put, irrespective of top ~8~
and bottom, in the composite portion 16 of the receiving hole 11 positioned a-t the e~treme left end in Fig. 3.
Since the upper half of the composite portion 16 has a larger diameter large enough to allow the cap 15 to enter therein but the lower half of it has a smaller diameter to allow only the capsule body to enter therein, among capsules put in the hole those which have been put in with their cap facing downwardly present such appearance that, as shown in X of Fig. 3, only the cap 15 is inserted in the upper part of -the hole 11 and the capsule body is exposed above the rotary body 12. Under such appearance, if the rotary body 12 turns further in the direction indicated by the arrow 20, the capsule body 13 is unable to maintain its upright position because of the existence of the inclined part 23 of the pusher guiding plate 21 above against which the capsule body 13 moves. Thus, as shown in X of Fig. 3, the capsule body 13 comes down in the direction of smaller diameter portion while the cap 15 is still kept in the composi-te portion 16 and the capped capsule will present an appearance of lying down between 16 and 14. With further turning of the rotary body 12, the capsule body 13 of the lying down capped capsule comes immediately below the vRrtically movable rod 31.
At this time, since the lower end of the rod 31 is moving in the rightward direction in the drawing as it is descending, . .
~S~6~
~as shown in ~ of ~ig. 3, the body 13 moves rightward as it is descending diagonally the smaller diameter portion 14 until the cap 15 and the body 13 stand upright in the composite portion 16. Then the vertically movable rod 31 moves further to the right as it is shifting to the rising motion and the upright capped capsule is pushed as it is toward the larger diameter por-tion 17 which allows a cap to pass therethrough, where the capped capsule falls downwardly and is received, with its cap facing~upwardly, in the capsule receiving hole 36 of the capsule receiving disk 35 which is waiting for it below.
On the other hand, among capsules put in the hole those which have been put in with their cap facing upwardly are inserted in their entirety in the composite portion 16, lS as shown in Y of Fig. 3, and move as they are in the direction indicated by the arrow 20 and then pushed at their side to the right by the vertically movable rod 31 toward the larger diameter portion 17 where they fall downwardly, with their cap facing upwardly, into the capsule receiving hole waiting for it below.
Embodiment 2 -This embodiment is of drum type and is shown in Fig. 4 - Fig. 6. Numeral 48 denotes a direction adjusting drum and capsule receiving holes 49, 49 in two rows are made in the cylindrical outer circumference divided equally.
12~ S2 .Numeral 50 is a cham~ered entrance of each capsule receiving hole ~9. Numeral 51 is a groove for direction adjusting.
This groove 51 has a width which is slightly smaller than the outside diameter of capsule body and connects a slit 52 for capsule lateral turning having the hole width equal to the diameter of the capsule receiving hole 49 slightly larger than the outside diameter of the cap 15 and the capsule receiving hole 49. Numeral 53 is a drum fitting hole provided at the side of the drum and is fixed removably to the top end of a drum fitting member 54.
Capsules of five different diameters are used generally and the drum is made detachable so that a drum corresponding tc each diameter of capsule can be used.
Numeral 55 is a capsule- tumbling plate provided along the undersurface of the upper part of the drum 48. Capsule body 13 fitting in grooves 56, 56 are made in said capsule tumbling plate. This -tumbling plate 55 is stationary even when the drum 48 turns. A capsule, with its cap facing upwardly, sinks its body 13 in the body fitting in groove 56. Since -there is the tumbling plate 55 having the upper surface 58 of gradually rising inclination at the bottom of the groove 56, the capsule body 13 which has been upright in the capsule receiving hole 49 is pushed up upon contact with said inclined upper surface 58 and is tumbled in the slot 52 for capsule lateral turning with its cap ~25~3~5'~
ahead and is shifted with the turning of the drum 48.
~n the other hand, in the case of a capsule wi-th its cap 15 facing downwardly, the cap 15 wi-th a larger diameter does not fit in the body fitting in groove 56 in the tumbling plate 55 which is below the drum and has a smaller width but with the turning of the dru~l 48, it moves as it is upright in the capsule receiving hole 49 with its cap facing downwardly, from the upper leading-in point to the lower leading-out point, making 180 turing movement. Thus, capsules are fed, with their cap facing upwardly, in the capsule receiving hole 36 made at the circumferential surface of the capsule receiving disk 35. Mumeral 61 is a guide which makes capsules put in with their cap facing upwardly turn sideways to the full and which prevents capsules from slipping off. When the drum 48 -turns, capsules are held in the drum 48 as they are upright or lying down and said guide 61 is necessary only at the part where capsules tend to fall. Since such - tendency shifts to the outer circumferential side of the drum at the lower half of the drum, the guide is provided inside at the upper half and is provided outside at the lower half (not shown in the drawings). Numeral 62 is a fixing member which is fitted in the inside of a base for the drum fitting member 54, through the medium of 25 bearings 63, 63, so that the drum fitting member 54 is J~25~365'~
~made rotatable around the fixing member 62. Numeral 64 is an internal gear provided at the inner circumference of the drum fitting member 54. Numeral 65 is a cup provided rotatably, through the medium of bearings 67, 67, to a fixed shaft 66 with its one end fixed to the fixing member 62. A cut turning gear 68 which engages with the internal gear 64 is fixed to the outer circumference at one end. Numeral 69 is a drive gear which is fixed to the top end of a driving shaft 70 rotatably suppor-ted by the fixing member 62 and engages with the cup turning gear 68. This drive gear 69 is turned by motive power from the outside and drives the cup turning gear 68 and the internal gear 64. Numeral 71 is a stationary gear fixed to the fixed shaft 66 inside the cup 65. Numeral 72 denotes four planetary gears which are provided by dividing the inner surface of the cup into four equal parts and which engage with the stationary gear 71. A small disk 73 having an eccentric pin 74 at the top end thereof is fixed to an axis of rotation 75, the base end of which is rotatably fixed to the cut 65. Numeral 76 denotes four adjusting pawls with their base portion rotatably fixed to the eccentric pin 74. Each of these adjusting pawls forks into two branches at its top end so that it may have access to the capsule receiving holes 49, 49 made in two rows in the drum 48. Numeral 77 is a long groove made at the _ g _ ,middle part ot each adjusting pawl 76. As a guide pin 78 fi~ed at the outer circumferential part of the cup 65 passes through this slidable long groove, movement of the adjusting pawl 76 is controlled by both of the eccentric pin 74 and the guide pin 78. The planetary gear 72 revolves round the stationary gear 71 and the eccentric pin 74 which effects revolution similar -to that of the planetary gear describes a cycloid curve around the stationary gear 71. Since the guide pin 78 ac-ts as a slide guide, with the eccentric pin 74 as center, the top end of the adjusting pawl 76 faces the ou-te-r circumference of the drum 48 when it begins to come into con-tact with a lying down capsule. ~rhen a capsule stands upright perfectly in this way, the capsule stands upright with its body side 13 facing the outer circumference of the drum.
This indicates that the capsule stands upright in the same direction as a capsule which fell with its cap 15 facing downwardly when it was supplied to the drum (namely, a capsule which does not require adjustment of direction).
Thus, both capsules are arranged in the same direction and are drawn out.
This Invention relates to a me-thod and an apparatus for arranging capped capsules in a single direction, whereby many capped e~pty capsules are put one by one in-to receiving holes which are moving mechanically and while capped empty capsules are being moved, they are divided into those with caps facing upwardly and those with caps facing downwardly and the former is left to move as it is but the latter is turned upside down so that capped empty capsules facing in the same direction can be supplied to a filling machined.
Even at the present time when capsules are filled with medicines or the like automatically, mechanically and at high efficiency, no apparatus is available for orienting capped empty capsules automatically and it has been obliged to arrange the directions of caps manually before supplying capped empty cap-sules to a filling machine. This involves poor operation effi-ciency and requires much labor. Although some machines have been developed to orient capsule caps in a definite direction mechani-cally, from the nature of a capsule, such as it is very ligh-t in weight, is liable to generate static electricity, must be kept absolutely from soiling, and so on, it has been difficult to effect mechanical orientation of cap direction efficiently.
The present invention provides a method and an appara-tus for arranging randomly oriented capped capsules in a singledirection mechanically, automatically and at high efficiency so that at -the succeeding processes uncapping, putting of a medicine or the like into a capsule body and capping may be done mechani-cally, automatically and at high efficiency.
According to the present invention there is provided an apparatus for arranging capped capsules in a definite direction, said capsules having a cap portion which is larger than a body portion, comprising a rotatable drum having an outer surface and an inner surface, said drum having capsule receiving holes located around the ou-ter circumference of said drum, said receiv-B
ing holes passing from said ou-ter surface to said inner surface, each oF sa~d receiving holes opening into a slot haYing a width large enough -to allow only a capsule body portion to pass therethrough; a tumbling device having an upper surface which is located below the inner surface of said drum but which allows said drum to pass freely thereover, said tumbling device haYing a groove in said upper surface which is located below the inner surface of said drum, said groove having a width large enough to allow only the capsule body portion to pass therethrough, said groove having a dep-th which decreases in the direction of rota-tion of said drum such that the body portion of a capsule will be urged up and turned so that the capsule body portion enters said slot of a receiving hole; adjusting pawls caused to enter said receiving holes to turn each capsule with its body portion located in said slot to a position with the body portion facing the outer circumference of said drum, the number of said pawls being less than the number o receiving holes in said drum, each of said pawls having a top end opposite to a base por-tion and a groove in the middle thereof; means for turning an individual pawl comprising a pin which is pivotably attached to the base portion of a pawl, a small disk which is connected to said pin at an eccentric position on said disk; planetary gear means for rotating said disk, a cup which is within and rotatably connected to said rotatable drum, said cup connected to said planetary gear means for causing said disk to rotate, a guide pin flxedly attached to said cup, said guide pin passing through said groove of one of said pawls; whereby said turning means causes each pawl to enter a receiving hole and turn a misaligned capsule so that the body portion faces the outer circumference of said drum;
whereby capped capsules which were randomly supplied to receiving holes in a single revolving drum fall freely from the receiving holes with their cap portions all facing the same direction.
Suitably said drum is shaped in the form of a ring, said drum being removable from a drum fitting member which is attached to said means for rotating said drum, whereby drums having receiving holes of different Si~8S may be used for orienting capsules of ;~551~
varlous diameters.
The present invention also provides a me-thod of arrang-ing capped capsules ln a definite direction, said capsules having a cap end which is larger than a body end thereof, comprising placing a plurality of randomly oriented capsules one-by-one into a plurality of capsule receiving holes located on the surface of a single revolving drum such that some of said capsules are inverted and have cap ends thereof facing away from an axis of lo rotation of said drum and the remainder of said capsules have cap ends thereof facing toward said axis of rotation of sald drum;
overturning with respect to an outer surface of said drum only those inverted capsules placed in said drum with their cap ends facing away from said axis of rotation of said drum and trans-porting said remainder of said capsules in said drum with the capends thereof facing toward said axis of rotation of said drum without moving said remainder of sai.d capsules with respect to said drum, said overturning of said inverted capsules placed in said drum with their cap ends facing away from said center of rotation of said drum being carried out by first rotating them to a semi-inverted position with the cap ends thereof facing a direction of rotation of said revolving drum while maintaining at least the cap ends thereof in said receiving holes of said revolving drum and then completing said overturning with means located adjacent a position in relation to said drum at which all of said capsules are ejected from said receiving holes, said means completing said overturning by rotating said semi-inverted capsules to a position with cap ends thereof facing toward said axis of rotat.i.on; and removing all capsules from said drum by only rotation of said drum such that said capsules fall freely only by gravity from said capsule receiving holes at said capsule ejecting position with cap ends thereof facing said axis of ro-ta-tion of said drum.
The accompanying drawings show preferred embodiments of the present invention. In the drawings;-- 2a -:1~5~36~Z
Fig. 1 is a perspec-tive view of a mechanism of horizon--tally rota-ting sys-tem;
Fig. 2 is a side elevation, partly cut away, showing the relation between -the vertically movable rod and the capsule receiving hole;
Fig. 3 is an exploded sectional view, illustrating the movement of capsules, in which X is the case where a capsule is put in with its cap facing downwardly and Y is tha case where a capsule is put in with its cap facing upwardly;
Fig. 4 is a side elevation of a drum system of - 2b -~258~i~i2 this invention;
Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the capsule putting in position of the drum sys-tem, partly cut away; and Fig. 6 is a cross section, taken on line A - A
of Fig. 4.
DETAr~ED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Embodiment 1 -This embodiment is of horizontally rotating system and is shown in Fig. 1 - Fig. 3. Numeral 11 denotes many capsule receiving holes made in the outer circumferential part of a rotary body 12. The hole 11 comprises a starting portion or a smaller diameter portion 14 in which a capsule body 13 can enter, an intermediate portion or a composite portion 16, the upper half of which has a diameter large enough to allow a capsule cap to pass therethrough and the lower half of which has a diameter to allow only a capsule body to pass therethrough, and a terminal portion 17 having a larger diameter large enough to allow the cap 15 to pass therethrough. Numeral 18 are teeth made at the outer periphery of the rotary body 12. Numeral 19 is a transmission gear which is provided relative to a motive power part (not shown in the drawings) and moves the rotary body 12 in the direction indicated by the arrow 20.
Numeral 21 is a pusher guiding plate, with its base part 22 fixed to the machine frame, its extreme top end forming ~s~
.an inclilled part 23 in the diagonal]y upward d:irec-tion and the other part of its top end forming a plane part 24 fixed adjacent the surface of the receiving hole 11.
Numeral 25 is a bevel gear which is connected to a motive machine and is so arranged tha-t it interlocks an upper gear 27 and a lower gear 28 through the medium of a transmission gear 26. Numeral 29 is an upper rotary plate.
Numeral 30 is a lower rotary plate. These -two rotary plates are turned by means of the upper gear 27 and the lower gear 28 respectively. Numeral 31 is a vertically movable rod which is pivotally secured to the eccentric positions 32, 33 of both rotary plates 29, 30 respectively. With the turn~ng of the rotary plates 29, 30 in the direction indicated by the arrow 34, the rod 31 begins to assume a perpendicular posture and causes its lower half part to do rising and falling motion while moving its lowermost part 31a in the direction indicated by the arrow 20.
NumeraI 35 is a capsule receiving disk which is so provided that it -turns in close vicinity to the lower surface of the rotary body 12 and has capsule receiving holes 36, each made at the position corresponding to the position immediately below the larger diameter portion 17 of the hole 11 which has come round.
This embodiment is constructed as s-tated above.
Let us suppose that capsules are put, irrespective of top ~8~
and bottom, in the composite portion 16 of the receiving hole 11 positioned a-t the e~treme left end in Fig. 3.
Since the upper half of the composite portion 16 has a larger diameter large enough to allow the cap 15 to enter therein but the lower half of it has a smaller diameter to allow only the capsule body to enter therein, among capsules put in the hole those which have been put in with their cap facing downwardly present such appearance that, as shown in X of Fig. 3, only the cap 15 is inserted in the upper part of -the hole 11 and the capsule body is exposed above the rotary body 12. Under such appearance, if the rotary body 12 turns further in the direction indicated by the arrow 20, the capsule body 13 is unable to maintain its upright position because of the existence of the inclined part 23 of the pusher guiding plate 21 above against which the capsule body 13 moves. Thus, as shown in X of Fig. 3, the capsule body 13 comes down in the direction of smaller diameter portion while the cap 15 is still kept in the composi-te portion 16 and the capped capsule will present an appearance of lying down between 16 and 14. With further turning of the rotary body 12, the capsule body 13 of the lying down capped capsule comes immediately below the vRrtically movable rod 31.
At this time, since the lower end of the rod 31 is moving in the rightward direction in the drawing as it is descending, . .
~S~6~
~as shown in ~ of ~ig. 3, the body 13 moves rightward as it is descending diagonally the smaller diameter portion 14 until the cap 15 and the body 13 stand upright in the composite portion 16. Then the vertically movable rod 31 moves further to the right as it is shifting to the rising motion and the upright capped capsule is pushed as it is toward the larger diameter por-tion 17 which allows a cap to pass therethrough, where the capped capsule falls downwardly and is received, with its cap facing~upwardly, in the capsule receiving hole 36 of the capsule receiving disk 35 which is waiting for it below.
On the other hand, among capsules put in the hole those which have been put in with their cap facing upwardly are inserted in their entirety in the composite portion 16, lS as shown in Y of Fig. 3, and move as they are in the direction indicated by the arrow 20 and then pushed at their side to the right by the vertically movable rod 31 toward the larger diameter portion 17 where they fall downwardly, with their cap facing upwardly, into the capsule receiving hole waiting for it below.
Embodiment 2 -This embodiment is of drum type and is shown in Fig. 4 - Fig. 6. Numeral 48 denotes a direction adjusting drum and capsule receiving holes 49, 49 in two rows are made in the cylindrical outer circumference divided equally.
12~ S2 .Numeral 50 is a cham~ered entrance of each capsule receiving hole ~9. Numeral 51 is a groove for direction adjusting.
This groove 51 has a width which is slightly smaller than the outside diameter of capsule body and connects a slit 52 for capsule lateral turning having the hole width equal to the diameter of the capsule receiving hole 49 slightly larger than the outside diameter of the cap 15 and the capsule receiving hole 49. Numeral 53 is a drum fitting hole provided at the side of the drum and is fixed removably to the top end of a drum fitting member 54.
Capsules of five different diameters are used generally and the drum is made detachable so that a drum corresponding tc each diameter of capsule can be used.
Numeral 55 is a capsule- tumbling plate provided along the undersurface of the upper part of the drum 48. Capsule body 13 fitting in grooves 56, 56 are made in said capsule tumbling plate. This -tumbling plate 55 is stationary even when the drum 48 turns. A capsule, with its cap facing upwardly, sinks its body 13 in the body fitting in groove 56. Since -there is the tumbling plate 55 having the upper surface 58 of gradually rising inclination at the bottom of the groove 56, the capsule body 13 which has been upright in the capsule receiving hole 49 is pushed up upon contact with said inclined upper surface 58 and is tumbled in the slot 52 for capsule lateral turning with its cap ~25~3~5'~
ahead and is shifted with the turning of the drum 48.
~n the other hand, in the case of a capsule wi-th its cap 15 facing downwardly, the cap 15 wi-th a larger diameter does not fit in the body fitting in groove 56 in the tumbling plate 55 which is below the drum and has a smaller width but with the turning of the dru~l 48, it moves as it is upright in the capsule receiving hole 49 with its cap facing downwardly, from the upper leading-in point to the lower leading-out point, making 180 turing movement. Thus, capsules are fed, with their cap facing upwardly, in the capsule receiving hole 36 made at the circumferential surface of the capsule receiving disk 35. Mumeral 61 is a guide which makes capsules put in with their cap facing upwardly turn sideways to the full and which prevents capsules from slipping off. When the drum 48 -turns, capsules are held in the drum 48 as they are upright or lying down and said guide 61 is necessary only at the part where capsules tend to fall. Since such - tendency shifts to the outer circumferential side of the drum at the lower half of the drum, the guide is provided inside at the upper half and is provided outside at the lower half (not shown in the drawings). Numeral 62 is a fixing member which is fitted in the inside of a base for the drum fitting member 54, through the medium of 25 bearings 63, 63, so that the drum fitting member 54 is J~25~365'~
~made rotatable around the fixing member 62. Numeral 64 is an internal gear provided at the inner circumference of the drum fitting member 54. Numeral 65 is a cup provided rotatably, through the medium of bearings 67, 67, to a fixed shaft 66 with its one end fixed to the fixing member 62. A cut turning gear 68 which engages with the internal gear 64 is fixed to the outer circumference at one end. Numeral 69 is a drive gear which is fixed to the top end of a driving shaft 70 rotatably suppor-ted by the fixing member 62 and engages with the cup turning gear 68. This drive gear 69 is turned by motive power from the outside and drives the cup turning gear 68 and the internal gear 64. Numeral 71 is a stationary gear fixed to the fixed shaft 66 inside the cup 65. Numeral 72 denotes four planetary gears which are provided by dividing the inner surface of the cup into four equal parts and which engage with the stationary gear 71. A small disk 73 having an eccentric pin 74 at the top end thereof is fixed to an axis of rotation 75, the base end of which is rotatably fixed to the cut 65. Numeral 76 denotes four adjusting pawls with their base portion rotatably fixed to the eccentric pin 74. Each of these adjusting pawls forks into two branches at its top end so that it may have access to the capsule receiving holes 49, 49 made in two rows in the drum 48. Numeral 77 is a long groove made at the _ g _ ,middle part ot each adjusting pawl 76. As a guide pin 78 fi~ed at the outer circumferential part of the cup 65 passes through this slidable long groove, movement of the adjusting pawl 76 is controlled by both of the eccentric pin 74 and the guide pin 78. The planetary gear 72 revolves round the stationary gear 71 and the eccentric pin 74 which effects revolution similar -to that of the planetary gear describes a cycloid curve around the stationary gear 71. Since the guide pin 78 ac-ts as a slide guide, with the eccentric pin 74 as center, the top end of the adjusting pawl 76 faces the ou-te-r circumference of the drum 48 when it begins to come into con-tact with a lying down capsule. ~rhen a capsule stands upright perfectly in this way, the capsule stands upright with its body side 13 facing the outer circumference of the drum.
This indicates that the capsule stands upright in the same direction as a capsule which fell with its cap 15 facing downwardly when it was supplied to the drum (namely, a capsule which does not require adjustment of direction).
Thus, both capsules are arranged in the same direction and are drawn out.
Claims (3)
PROPERTY OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:
1. An apparatus for arranging capped capsules in a definite direction, said capsules having a cap portion which is larger than a body portion, comprising a rotatable drum having an outer surface and an inner surface, said drum having capsule receiving holes located around the outer circumference of said drum, said receiving holes passing from said outer surface to said inner surface, each of said receiving holes opening into a slot having a width large enough to allow only a capsule body portion to pass therethrough; a tumbling device having an upper surface which is located below the inner surface of said drum but which allows said drum to pass freely thereover, said tumbling device having a groove in said upper surface which is located below the inner surface of said drum, said groove having a width large enough to allow only the capsule body portion to pass therethrough, said groove having a depth which decreases in the direction of rotation of said drum such that the body portion of a capsule will be urged up and turned so that the capsule body portion enters said slot of a receiving hole; adjusting pawls caused to enter said receiving holes to turn each capsule with its body portion located in said slot to a position with the body portion facing the outer circumference of said drum, the number of said pawls being less than the number of receiving holes in said drum, each of said pawls having a top end opposite to a base portion and a groove in the middle thereof; means for turning an individual pawl comprising a pin which is pivotably attached to the base portion of a pawl, a small disk which is connected to said pin at an eccentric position on said disk; planetary gear means for rotating said disk, a cup which is within and rotatably connected to said rotatable drum, said cup connected to said planetary gear means for causing said disk to rotate, a guide pin fixedly attached to said cup, said guide pin passing through said groove of one of said pawls; whereby said turning means causes each pawl to enter a receiving hole and turn a misaligned capsule so that the body portion faces the outer circumference of said drum; whereby capped capsules which were randomly supplied to receiving holes in a single revolving drum fall freely from the receiving holes with their cap portions all facing the same direction.
2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said drum is shaped in the form of a ring, said drum being removable from a drum fitting member which is attached to said means for rotating said drum, whereby drums having receiving holes of different sizes may be used for orienting capsules of various diameters.
3. A method of arranging capped capsules in a definite direction, said capsules having a cap end which is larger than a body end thereof, comprising placing a plurality of randomly ori-ented capsules one-by-one into a plurality of capsule receiving holes located on the surface of a single revolving drum such that some of said capsules are inverted and have cap ends thereof fac-ing away from an axis of rotation of said drum and the remainder of said capsules have cap ends thereof facing toward said axis of rotation of said drum; overturning with respect to an outer sur-face of said drum only those inverted capsules placed in said drum with their cap ends facing away from said axis of rotation of said drum and transporting said remainder of said capsules in said drum with the cap ends thereof facing toward said axis of rotation of said drum without moving said remainder of said cap-sules with respect to said drum, said overturning of said inverted capsules placed in said drum with their cap ends facing away from said center of rotation of said drum being carried out by first rotating them to a semi-inverted position with the cap ends thereof facing a direction of rotation of said revolving drum while maintaining at least the cap ends thereof in said receiving holes of said revolving drum and then completing said overturnig with means located adjacent a position in relation to said drum at which all of said capsules are ejected from said receiving holes, said means completing said overturning by rotat-ing said semi-inverted capsules to a position with cap ends thereof facing toward said axis of rotation; and removing all capsules from said drum by only rotation of said drum such that said capsules fall freely only by gravity from said capsule receiving holes at said capsule ejecting position with cap ends thereof facing said axis of rotation of said drum.
Priority Applications (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA000440809A CA1258652A (en) | 1983-11-09 | 1983-11-09 | Method and apparatus for arranging capped capsules in a single direction |
Applications Claiming Priority (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA000440809A CA1258652A (en) | 1983-11-09 | 1983-11-09 | Method and apparatus for arranging capped capsules in a single direction |
Publications (1)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| CA1258652A true CA1258652A (en) | 1989-08-22 |
Family
ID=4126492
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA000440809A Expired CA1258652A (en) | 1983-11-09 | 1983-11-09 | Method and apparatus for arranging capped capsules in a single direction |
Country Status (1)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| CA (1) | CA1258652A (en) |
-
1983
- 1983-11-09 CA CA000440809A patent/CA1258652A/en not_active Expired
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Legal Events
| Date | Code | Title | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| MKEX | Expiry |