CN117465143A

CN117465143A - Granular material printing device

Info

Publication number: CN117465143A
Application number: CN202310947230.8A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 伊藤尚充; 西川贵之; 片冈雅人; 贾増言; 高畑侑弥
Original assignee: Screen Holdings Co Ltd
Current assignee: Screen Holdings Co Ltd
Priority date: 2022-07-28
Filing date: 2023-07-28
Publication date: 2024-01-30
Also published as: JP2024017833A

Abstract

The invention provides a technology capable of inhibiting granular objects judged to be qualified from contacting each other. The particulate matter printing device is provided with: a conveying mechanism for holding the granular material and conveying the granular material along a conveying path; a printing unit that prints the surface of the granular material on a conveying path of the conveying mechanism; and a discharge unit configured to convey the granular material printed by the printing unit to the outside of the granular material printing apparatus, wherein the discharge unit includes a plurality of first conveyance paths, and when the plurality of granular materials are conveyed in one lump, the plurality of granular materials are conveyed by passing the granular materials through different first conveyance paths.

Description

Granular material printing device

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a pellet printing apparatus for printing pellets.

Background

Conventionally, a printing apparatus for printing on the surface of a granular material such as a tablet or a tableted candy (Compressed tablet candy) is known. A conventional printing apparatus is described in patent document 1, for example. The printing apparatus of patent document 1 conveys a plurality of tablets using a conveyor, and prints an image on the surface of each tablet by an inkjet system.

Patent document 1: japanese patent laid-open No. 2021-04062

In the printing apparatus of patent document 1, the tablets 9 determined to be acceptable fall into the acceptable product discharge conveyor 112 from the suction holes 421 of the suction belt 42 through the acceptable product discharge port 114 and the interior of the acceptable product chute 111. The plurality of tablets 9 dropped into the acceptable product discharge conveyor 112 are carried by the carrying belt 116 and carried to the outside of the tablet printing device 1.

In the printing apparatus of patent document 1, when a plurality of tablets 9 are discharged from the acceptable product discharge port 114 at once, the tablets 9 come into contact with each other, and ink attached to the tablets 9 is transferred to other tablets 9.

Disclosure of Invention

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a technique capable of suppressing contact between granular objects determined to be acceptable.

In order to solve the above problems, a first aspect of the present invention is a particulate matter printing apparatus comprising: a conveying mechanism for holding the granular objects and conveying the granular objects along a conveying path; a printing unit that prints the surface of the granular material on the conveying path of the conveying mechanism; and a discharge unit configured to convey the granular material printed by the printing unit to the outside of the granular material printing device. The discharge unit includes a plurality of first conveyance paths, and conveys the plurality of granular objects by passing the granular objects through different first conveyance paths when the plurality of granular objects are conveyed in one lump.

A second aspect of the present invention is the granular material printing apparatus according to the first aspect, comprising: the device is provided with: and a discharge conveyor that conveys the granular material to the outside by rotating a conveyance belt that supports the granular material, wherein the discharge portion is a discharge chute that supplies the granular material to the discharge conveyor, and wherein the discharge conveyor includes a plurality of second conveyance paths, and wherein when the granular material is conveyed in a lump, the granular material supplied from the first conveyance path is conveyed by passing the granular material through the different second conveyance paths, respectively.

A third aspect of the present invention is the granular material printing apparatus according to the second aspect, wherein the speed at which the discharge conveyor conveys the granular material is greater than the speed at which the conveying mechanism conveys the granular material.

A fourth aspect of the present invention is the granular material printing apparatus according to the second or third aspect, wherein the discharge conveyor is located below the conveyance mechanism in a vertical direction, and the discharge chute includes an inclined surface inclined with respect to the vertical direction.

A fifth aspect of the present invention is the particulate matter printing apparatus according to any one of the second to fourth aspects, wherein the discharge conveyor includes: one or more spacers that divide a space above the conveying belt by a predetermined interval in a width direction orthogonal to a conveying direction of the granular objects, and form a plurality of the second conveying paths in the space above the conveying belt.

According to the first to fifth aspects of the present invention, contact between the granular objects determined to be acceptable can be suppressed.

In particular, according to the second invention of the present application, the contact between the granular objects determined to be acceptable can be further suppressed.

In particular, according to the third invention of the present application, the contact between the granular objects passing through the same second conveying path can be suppressed.

In particular, according to the fourth aspect of the present invention, when the particulate matter falls to the discharge chute, the impact force applied to the particulate matter can be reduced, and the occurrence of damage to the particulate matter can be suppressed.

In particular, according to the fifth aspect of the present invention, a plurality of second conveying paths can be formed in the space above the conveying belt.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a diagram showing the structure of a tablet printing apparatus.

Fig. 2 is a partial perspective view of the conveying belt.

Fig. 3 is a bottom view of a spray head.

Fig. 4 is a control block diagram of the tablet printing apparatus.

Fig. 5 is a block diagram conceptually showing functions implemented by the control unit.

Fig. 6 is a partial side view of a tablet printing apparatus.

Fig. 7 is a partial cross-sectional view of a tablet printing apparatus.

Fig. 8 is a cross-sectional view showing a section A-A of fig. 6.

The reference numerals are explained as follows:

1 tablet printing device

9 tablets

10 supply mechanism

20 second roller

25 conveyor

30 first camera

35 printing section

40 second camera

45 drying mechanism

50 tilting mechanism

60 reject discharge mechanism

70 qualified product discharging mechanism

71 qualified product discharge chute

72 second air blowing mechanism

73 qualified product discharge conveyor

74 qualified product outlet

100 control part

711 dividing part

712 inclined plane

733 spacer

Detailed Description

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

<1 > integral Structure of tablet printing device >

Fig. 1 is a diagram showing the structure of a tablet printing apparatus 1. The tablet printing apparatus 1 is an apparatus for conveying a plurality of tablets 9 which are granular objects, and printing images such as product names, product codes, company names, trademarks, etc. on both sides of each tablet 9. The tablet 9 may be a plain tablet (bare tablet) or a coated tablet such as a sugar-coated tablet or a film-coated tablet (FC tablet). In addition, the tablet 9 may be a capsule including a hard capsule and a soft capsule. The "particulate matter" of the present invention is not limited to tablets as a pharmaceutical product, and may be tablets as health foods or sugar tablets such as tableted sugar.

As shown in fig. 1, the tablet printing apparatus 1 of the present embodiment includes a supply mechanism 10, a first drum 15, a second drum 20, a conveying conveyor 25, a first camera 30, a printing unit 35, a second camera 40, a drying mechanism 45, a reversing mechanism 50, a reject discharge mechanism 60, a reject discharge mechanism 70, and a control unit 100.

The feeding mechanism 10 is a mechanism for feeding a plurality of tablets 9 fed into the tablet printing apparatus 1 to the first drum 15. The feeding mechanism 10 of the present embodiment has a bowl feeder 11, a first chute 12, a feeding conveyor 13, and a second chute 14.

The bowl feeder 11 has a disc-shaped trough 110 that receives a plurality of tablets 9. The bowl feeder 11 vibrates the trough 110, moving the plurality of tablets 9 and feeding the first chute 12. The first chute 12 extends in an arc shape between the chute 110 and the supply conveyor 13. The first chute 12 has a plurality of feed paths. The bowl feeder 11 supplies tablets 9 to each supply path of the first chute 12. Thereby, the plurality of tablets 9 are arranged in a plurality of rows. That is, a plurality of rows of tablets 9 aligned in the conveying direction are formed in the width direction. That is, a plurality of rows of tablets 9 aligned in the conveying direction are formed in a direction orthogonal to the conveying direction. The aligned tablets 9 are supplied from the first chute 12 to the supply conveyor 13. Furthermore, only one column of tablets 9 is shown in fig. 1.

The feed conveyor 13 is a mechanism for conveying the tablets 9 from the first chute 12 to the second chute 14. The feed conveyor 13 has two pulleys 131 and an endless feed belt 132 stretched over the two pulleys 131. One of the pulleys 131 is rotated by being powered by a motor (not shown). Thereby, the supply belt 132 rotates in the arrow direction in fig. 1. The other pulley 131 is driven to rotate with the rotation of the supply belt 132. Further, a partition plate extending along the boundary of the row of tablets 9 is provided at the upper portion of the supply belt 132. The tablets 9 fed from the first chute 12 are held in a state of being arranged in a plurality of rows by the partition plates, and are conveyed downstream in the conveying direction by the rotation of the feeding belt 132.

The second chute 14 extends linearly between the feed conveyor 13 and the first drum 15. The second chute 14 has a plurality of horizontal feed paths. A plurality of tablets 9 fed by the feed conveyor 13 are fed to each feed path of the second chute 14. The tablet 9 in the second chute 14 is pushed by the subsequent tablet 9 conveyed by the feed conveyor 13 and conveyed downstream in the conveying direction. The tablets 9 are supplied from the end of the second chute 14 on the downstream side in the conveying direction to the first drum 15.

The first drum 15 is a mechanism for carrying a plurality of tablets 9 supplied from the second chute 14 while holding the tablets at a constant interval in the carrying direction. The first roller 15 has a substantially cylindrical outer peripheral surface centered on a first axis O1 parallel to the width direction. A motor, not shown, is connected to the first drum 15. When the motor is driven, the first drum 15 rotates about the first axis O1 in the arrow direction in fig. 1. The first roller 15 conveys the tablets 9 from a first delivery position P1 near its upper end to a second delivery position P2 near the second roller 20.

As shown in fig. 1, the first roller 15 has a roller body 16 and a retaining ring 17. The drum body 16 has a cylindrical outer peripheral surface centered on the first axis O1. The drum main body 16 is formed of a metal such as stainless steel. The retaining ring 17 is mounted on the outer circumferential surface of the drum main body 16. Specifically, the plurality of retaining rings 17 are arranged at positions in the width direction corresponding to the rows of the tablets 9. The retainer ring 17 is formed of, for example, a resin such as Polyacetal (Polyacetal).

The outer peripheral surface of each retaining ring 17 has a plurality of concave recesses 18. The plurality of pits 18 are provided at intervals in the circumferential direction around the first axis O1. The retaining ring 17 has a suction hole 19 for sucking the tablet 9 at the bottom of each recess 18. The suction hole 19 is a through hole penetrating the retainer ring 17.

The first drum 15 is connected to a suction mechanism, not shown. When the suction mechanism is operated, the gas is sucked from the inner space of the first drum 15 located in the angular range between the first delivery position P1 and the second delivery position P2. Thereby, the internal space forms a sub-atmospheric negative pressure. In addition, the suction hole 19 communicating with the internal space also generates negative pressure. By this negative pressure, the plurality of tablets 9 supplied from the second chute 14 are adsorbed and held by the adsorption holes 19 of the holding ring 17.

Tablets 9 fed from the second chute 14 are accommodated one by the pit 18 and sucked and held by the suction hole 19. At this time, the tablet 9 is introduced into the concave portion 18 of the holding ring 17 by pressing by the pressing mechanism 141. As a result, the intervals in the conveying direction of the plurality of tablets 9 are formed at predetermined intervals corresponding to the intervals of the pockets 18. Each tablet 9 is sucked and held by the suction holes 19 in the pit 18, and is transported from the first delivery position P1 to the second delivery position P2 by the rotation of the first drum 15. When the tablet 9 passes through the second delivery position P2, the suction of the tablet 9 is released by being separated from the angular range of the internal space maintained at the negative pressure. Thereby, the tablets 9 are handed over from the first roller 15 to the second roller 20.

The second roller 20 is a mechanism for conveying the tablets 9 delivered from the first roller 15 to the conveying conveyor 25. The second drum 20 has a substantially cylindrical outer peripheral surface centered on a second axis O2 parallel to the width direction. In the present embodiment, the outer diameter of the first roller 15 is substantially the same as the outer diameter of the second roller 20. But the outer diameter of the first drum 15 and the outer diameter of the second drum 20 may be different. A motor, not shown, is connected to the second drum 20. When the motor is driven, the second drum 20 rotates in the opposite direction to the first drum 15 about the second axis O2. The second roller 20 conveys the tablets 9 from the second delivery position P2 near the first roller 15 to the third delivery position P3 near the conveying conveyor 25. The third delivery position P3 is higher than the first delivery position P1 and the second delivery position P2.

As shown in fig. 1, the second drum 20 has a drum body 21 and a retaining ring 22. The drum body 21 has a cylindrical outer peripheral surface centered on the second axis O2. The drum main body 21 is formed of a metal such as stainless steel. The retaining ring 22 is mounted on the outer circumferential surface of the drum body 21. Specifically, the plurality of retaining rings 22 are arranged at positions in the width direction corresponding to the rows of the tablets 9. The retainer ring 22 is formed of, for example, a resin such as silicone (s ilidone).

Each retaining ring 22 has a plurality of suction holes 24. The adsorption hole 24 is a through hole penetrating the retainer ring 22. The second drum 20 is connected to a suction mechanism, not shown. When the suction mechanism is operated, the gas is sucked from the inner space of the second drum 20 located in the angular range between the second delivery position P2 and the third delivery position P3. Thereby, the internal space forms a sub-atmospheric negative pressure. In addition, the suction hole 24 communicating with the internal space also generates negative pressure. By this negative pressure, the plurality of tablets 9 delivered from the first roller 15 are sucked and held by the suction holes 24 of the holding ring 22.

The tablet 9 sucked and held by the suction holes 24 is transported from the second delivery position P2 to the third delivery position P3 by the rotation of the second drum 20. When the tablet 9 passes through the third delivery position P3, the suction of the tablet 9 is released from the angular range of the internal space maintained at the negative pressure. Thereby, the tablets 9 are delivered from the second drum 20 to the conveying conveyor 25.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the plurality of tablets 9 supplied from the supply mechanism 10 are conveyed to the conveying conveyor 25 via the two rollers, that is, the first roller 15 and the second roller 20. The first roller 15 holds the plurality of tablets 9 with a gap therebetween in the conveying direction. The second roller 20 maintains the interval in the conveying direction, and conveys the tablets 9 to the conveying conveyor 25. At this time, the first roller 15 and the second roller 20 rotate in opposite directions to each other, and thus the conveying direction of the tablets 9 is reversed. Thereby, the tablets 9 can be conveyed from the second roller 20 to the conveying conveyor 25 in accordance with the operation direction of the conveying conveyor 25.

The transport conveyor 25 is a mechanism for carrying the plurality of tablets 9 delivered from the second drum 20 while sucking and holding them. The conveying conveyor 25 includes a pair of pulleys 26 and an endless conveying belt 27 that is stretched between the pulleys 26. One of the pair of pulleys 26 is rotated by being powered by a motor, not shown. Thereby, the conveying belt 27 rotates in the arrow direction in fig. 1. The other of the pair of pulleys 26 is driven to rotate by the rotation of the conveying belt 27. The conveying conveyor 25 corresponds to a "conveying mechanism" of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a partial perspective view of the conveying conveyor 25. As shown in fig. 2, the conveyance belt 27 has a plurality of suction holes 29 formed therein. The plurality of suction holes 29 are arranged at intervals in the conveyance direction and the width direction. Each suction hole 29 is a through hole penetrating the conveying belt 27. The transport conveyor 25 includes a suction mechanism (not shown) for sucking gas from the space inside the transport belt 27. When the suction mechanism is operated, a negative pressure lower than the atmospheric pressure is formed in the inner space of the conveying belt 27. The plurality of tablets 9 are sucked and held one by one in the suction holes 29 by the negative pressure.

In this way, the plurality of tablets 9 are held on the surface of the conveying belt 27 in a state of being aligned in the conveying direction and the width direction. The conveying conveyor 25 rotates the conveying belt 27 to convey the plurality of tablets 9 along the endless conveying path. Below four heads 36 described later, a plurality of tablets 9 are held on the upper surface of the conveying belt 27 and conveyed in the horizontal direction. Further, above the reject discharge mechanism 60 and the reject discharge mechanism 70 described later, the plurality of tablets 9 are held on the lower surface of the conveying belt 27 and conveyed in the horizontal direction.

As shown in fig. 2, the surface of the conveying belt 27 of the present embodiment includes: a first area A1 holding the tablet 9 before being turned over by the turning mechanism 50; a second area A2, holding the inverted tablet 9. The first area A1 and the second area A2 are adjacent in the width direction. In the present embodiment, the plurality of suction holes 29 are provided in three rows in each of the first area A1 and the second area A2 in the width direction. The tablets 9 fed by the feeding mechanism 10, the first roller 15, and the second roller 20 are sucked and held by the suction holes 29 of the first area A1. The tablets 9, on both sides of which the printing has been performed, are discharged from the suction holes 29 in the second area A2 to the reject discharge mechanism 60 or the reject discharge mechanism 70.

The first camera 30 is a processing unit for photographing the tablet 9 before printing. The first camera 30 is located downstream of the third transfer position P3 in the conveyance path and upstream of the printing unit 35 in the conveyance path. The first camera 30 extends across both the first area A1 and the second area A2 in the width direction. The first camera 30 is a linear sensor formed by using imaging elements such as a CCD (C harge Couple Device: charge coupled device) or CMOS (complementary metal oxi de semiconductor: complementary metal oxide semiconductor) arranged in the width direction, for example. The first camera 30 photographs the plurality of tablets 9 conveyed by the conveying belt 27. The captured image is transmitted from the first camera 30 to the control unit 100 described later. The control unit 100 detects the presence or absence of the tablet 9 in each of the adsorption holes 29, the position of the tablet 9, and the posture of the tablet 9 based on the image acquired from the first camera 30. The control unit 100 also checks whether or not each tablet 9 has a defect such as a defect based on the image acquired from the first camera 30.

The printing unit 35 is a processing unit that prints an image on the surface of the tablet 9 conveyed by the conveyor belt 27 by an inkjet method. As shown in fig. 1, the printing section 35 of the present embodiment has four heads 36. Four nozzles 36 are located above the conveying belt 27 and are arranged in a row along the conveying direction of the tablets 9. Each head 36 extends across both the first area A1 and the second area A2 in the width direction. The four ejection heads 36 eject ink droplets of different colors toward the tablet 9. Four ejection heads 36 eject ink droplets of various colors, such as cyan, magenta (magenta), yellow, and black, toward the tablet 9. Thus, a color image is recorded on the surface of the tablet 9 by overlapping the monochrome images formed by these colors. The ink ejected from each ejection head 36 is an edible ink made of a raw material approved by the japanese pharmacopoeia, food sanitation law, or the like.

Fig. 3 is a bottom view of one of the spray heads 36. In fig. 3, the conveying belt 27 and the plurality of tablets 9 held by the conveying belt 27 are indicated by two-dot chain lines. As shown in an enlarged view in fig. 3, a plurality of nozzles 37 capable of ejecting ink droplets are provided on the lower surface of the ejection head 36. In the present embodiment, the plurality of nozzles 37 are two-dimensionally arranged on the lower surface of the head 36 in the conveyance direction and the width direction. The nozzles 37 are arranged at positions offset in the width direction. If the plurality of nozzles 37 are arranged two-dimensionally in this manner, the positions of the nozzles 37 in the width direction can be made closer to each other. However, the plurality of nozzles 37 may be arranged in a row in the width direction.

The discharge method of discharging ink droplets from the nozzles 37 is, for example, a so-called piezoelectric method in which a voltage is applied to a piezoelectric element to deform the piezoelectric element, thereby pressurizing and discharging ink in the nozzles 37. However, the ink droplet discharge method may be a so-called thermal method in which the ink in the nozzle 37 is heated by energizing a heater to expand and discharge the ink.

The second camera 40 is a processing unit for photographing the tablet 9 after printing. The second camera 40 is located downstream of the printing unit 35 in the conveyance path and upstream of the drying mechanism 45 in the conveyance path. The second camera 40 extends across both the first area A1 and the second area A2 in the width direction. The second camera 40 is a linear sensor formed by arranging image pickup elements such as a CCD or CMOS in the width direction, for example. The second camera 40 photographs the plurality of tablets 9 conveyed by the conveying belt 27. The captured image is transmitted from the second camera 40 to the control unit 100 described later. The control section 100 checks whether or not the image printed on the tablet 9 is good based on the image acquired from the second camera 40.

The drying mechanism 45 is a mechanism for drying the ink adhering to the tablet 9. The drying mechanism 45 is located downstream of the second camera 40 in the conveyance path and upstream of the reversing mechanism 50, reject discharge mechanism 60, and reject discharge mechanism 70 described later. The drying means 45 extends across both the first area A1 and the second area A2 in the width direction. The drying means 45 may be, for example, a hot air supply means for blowing heated air (hot air) to the tablets 9 conveyed by the conveyor belt 27. The ink adhering to the surface of the tablet 9 is dried by hot air and fixed on the surface or back of the tablet 9.

The reversing mechanism 50 reverses the front and back sides of the tablets 9 conveyed by the conveyor belt 27, and moves the tablets 9 from the first area A1 to the second area A2. The inverting mechanism 50 is located downstream of the drying mechanism 45 in the conveyance path. The reversing mechanism 50 has a plurality of sets of a pair of inclined rollers 51 arranged in the width direction. Each inclined roller 51 has a conical holding surface. One inclined roller 51 of the pair of inclined rollers 51 rotates the tablet 9 conveyed on the first area A1 while being attracted to the holding surface, and transfers the tablet 9 to the other inclined roller 51. The other inclined roller 51 sucks the tablet 9 received from one inclined roller 51 on the holding surface to rotate it, and delivers the tablet 9 to the second area A2. Thereby, the front and back sides of the tablet 9 are reversed, and the tablet 9 moves from the first area A1 to the second area A2.

The tablets 9 conveyed from the supply mechanism 10 to the conveying conveyor 25 via the first roller 15 and the second roller 20 are first held in the first area A1 of the conveying belt 27. Then, the tablet printing apparatus 1 holds and conveys the tablet 9 in the first area A1, and performs various processes on one surface of the tablet 9: shooting by the first camera 30; printing by the printing unit 35; shooting by a second camera 40; the drying is performed by the drying mechanism 45. Next, the inverting mechanism 50 inverts the front and back sides of the tablet 9, and moves the tablet 9 from the first area A1 to the second area A2. Subsequently, the tablet printing apparatus 1 holds and conveys the tablet 9 in the second area A2, and performs various processes on the other surface of the tablet 9: shooting by the first camera 30; printing by the printing unit 35; shooting by a second camera 40; the drying is performed by the drying mechanism 45.

The reject discharge mechanism 60 is a mechanism that discharges the tablets 9 determined to be reject from the conveying belt 27. The reject discharge mechanism 60 has a reject collection tank 61 and a first air blowing mechanism 62. The reject collection box 61 is disposed outside (below) the conveying belt 27. The first blower mechanism 62 is disposed inside (upper side) the conveyance belt 27. The reject collection box 61 and the first blower mechanism 62 face each other in the vertical direction via the conveying belt 27.

The first blowing mechanism 62 blows pressurized gas to the suction holes 29 of the conveying belt 27. In accordance with the instruction of the control unit 100, the first blowing mechanism 62 blows the gas only to the suction holes 29 holding the tablets 9 judged as defective out of the plurality of suction holes 29 of the conveying belt 27. Thereby, the adsorption of the tablet 9 by the adsorption hole 29 is released. As a result, the tablets 9 determined as defective products fall from the conveyor belt 27 and are collected in the defective product collection box 61.

The acceptable product discharge mechanism 70 is a mechanism for discharging the tablets 9 judged as acceptable products from the conveying belt 27. The detailed structure of the acceptable product discharge mechanism 70 will be described later.

The control unit 100 is a mechanism for controlling the operations of the respective units in the tablet printing apparatus 1. Fig. 4 is a control block diagram of the tablet printing apparatus 1. As conceptually shown in fig. 4, the control unit 100 is configured by a computer having a processor 101 such as a CPU (central processing unit), a memory 102 such as a RAM (random access memory), and a storage unit 103 such as a hard disk drive. The storage unit 103 stores a computer program CP for executing the conveyance and printing process of the tablet 9.

As shown in fig. 4, the control unit 100 is electrically connected to the bowl feeder 11, the supply conveyor 13, the first drum 15, the second drum 20, the transfer conveyor 25, the first camera 30, the printing unit 35, the second camera 40, the drying mechanism 45, the inverting mechanism 50, the first blowing mechanism 62 of the reject discharge mechanism 60, and the second blowing mechanism 72 of the reject discharge mechanism 70, which will be described later.

The control unit 100 temporarily reads the computer program CP and data stored in the storage unit 103 into the memory 102, and the processor 101 performs arithmetic processing based on the computer program CP, thereby controlling the operations of the respective units. Thereby, a conveyance process of a plurality of tablets 9 and a printing process for each tablet 9 are performed.

Fig. 5 is a block diagram conceptually showing functions implemented by the control unit 100. As shown in fig. 5, the control unit 100 includes an inspection unit 104. The inspection unit 104 realizes each function by the processor 101 based on the operation of the computer program CP. The inspection unit 104 determines whether each tablet 9 is good or bad based on the images acquired from the first camera 30 and the second camera 40. That is, the inspection unit 104 discriminates the plurality of tablets 9 conveyed by the conveyor 25 between the acceptable products and the unacceptable products. The control unit 100 controls the first blower mechanism 62 and the second blower mechanism 72 based on the determination result of the inspection unit 104.

<2 > regarding the structure of the acceptable product discharge mechanism 70

Next, a more detailed structure of the acceptable product discharge mechanism 70 will be described. Fig. 6 is a partial side view of the tablet printing apparatus 1. Fig. 7 is a partial cross-sectional view of the tablet printing apparatus 1. Fig. 8 is a cross-sectional view showing a section A-A in fig. 6.

The acceptable product discharge mechanism 70 is a mechanism for discharging the tablet 9 judged to be acceptable by the inspection unit 104 from the conveying belt 27 at the discharge position P4 of the discharged tablet 9. The acceptable product discharge mechanism 70 has an acceptable product discharge chute 71, a second blower mechanism 72, an acceptable product discharge conveyor 73, and an acceptable product discharge port 74. The reject discharge chute 71 is disposed outside (below) the conveying belt 27. The second blower mechanism 72 is disposed inside (upper side) the conveying belt 27. The reject discharge chute 71 and the second blower mechanism 72 face each other in the vertical direction through the conveyance belt 27.

The second blowing mechanism 72 blows the pressurized gas to the suction holes 29 of the conveying belt 27. The second blowing mechanism 72 blows air to all the adsorption holes 29 of the conveying belt 27. Thereby, the adsorption of the tablet 9 by all the adsorption holes 29 is released. As a result, the tablet 9 not discharged by the reject discharge mechanism 60 falls from the conveyor belt 27 and is discharged to the reject discharge chute 71. That is, the acceptable tablet 9 is discharged to the acceptable product discharge chute 71.

The acceptable product discharge chute 71 conveys the tablets 9 discharged from the conveying belt 27 by the second blower mechanism 72 to the acceptable product discharge conveyor 73. The acceptable product discharge chute 71 is cylindrical. The reject discharge chute 71 corresponds to a "discharge portion" of the present invention. The reject discharge chute 71 has a dividing portion 711, an inclined surface 712, and a discharge port 713.

The dividing portion 711 is a plate-like member, and divides the internal space of the acceptable product discharge chute 71 at predetermined intervals in the width direction. In the present embodiment, the acceptable product discharge chute 71 has two dividing portions 711. Specifically, the acceptable product discharge chute 71 includes a first dividing portion 711A and a second dividing portion 711B. The number of the dividing portions 711 may be one or three or more. As shown in fig. 8, the first dividing portion 711A and the second dividing portion 711B divide the internal space of the acceptable product discharge chute 71 into a plurality of paths S11, S12, S13. The paths S11 to S13 correspond to the "first conveyance path" of the present invention.

As shown in fig. 8, the positions of the paths S11 to S13 in the width direction match the positions of the rows of suction holes 29A to 29C provided in the second area A2. Therefore, at the discharge position P4, the tablets 9A to 9C held by the adsorption holes 29A to 29C respectively fall down the paths S11 to S13. That is, the tablets 9A to 9C discharged together at the discharge position P4 are passed through different paths S11 to S13. This can suppress the tablets 9A to 9C discharged together at the discharge position P4 from contacting each other.

The inclined surface 712 is provided so as to cross the paths S11 to S13. As shown in fig. 7, the inclined surface 712 is inclined at a predetermined angle with respect to the vertical direction. In addition, the inclined surface 712 changes its inclination angle during the inclination. Tablets 9A to 9C falling on paths S11 to S13 are conveyed to the discharge port 713 so as to slide on the inclined surface 712, and are supplied to the acceptable product discharge conveyor 73. Thus, by reducing the impact force applied to the tablet 9 when the tablet 9 falls to the acceptable product discharge chute 71, damage to the tablet 9 can be suppressed.

The acceptable product discharge conveyor 73 rotates a conveying belt 732 for supporting the tablets 9 supplied from the acceptable product discharge chute 71, and conveys the tablets 9 to the outside of the tablet printing apparatus 1. The acceptable product discharge conveyor 73 is located vertically below the conveying belt 27 and the acceptable product discharge chute 71. The acceptable product discharge conveyor 73 corresponds to the "discharge conveyor" of the present invention. The acceptable product discharge conveyor 73 has a pair of pulleys 731, a conveying belt 732, a spacer 733, and a cover 734.

The cover 734 is located between the reject discharge chute 71 and the conveying belt 732, and covers the upper side of the conveying belt 732. As shown in fig. 7, the cap 734 has a through hole 735. The through hole 735 is provided so as to overlap with the discharge port 713 of the acceptable product discharge chute 71. Therefore, the tablets 9 supplied from the acceptable product discharge chute 71 to the acceptable product discharge conveyor 73 pass through the through-hole 735 and are placed on the conveying belt 732.

One of the pair of pulleys 731 is rotated by being powered by a motor, not shown. Thereby, the conveying belt 732 rotates in the arrow direction in fig. 7. The other of the pair of pulleys 731 is driven to rotate by the rotation of the conveying belt 732. Thus, the tablets 9 placed on the conveyor belt 732 move in the conveying direction together with the conveyor belt 732.

The spacer 733 is a plate-like member, and extends from the cover 734 toward the conveyor 732 in a direction perpendicular to the cover 734. The shape of the spacer 733 is not limited to a plate shape. In the present embodiment, the acceptable product discharge conveyor 73 has two partition portions 733. Specifically, the acceptable product discharge conveyor 73 has a first partition 733A and a second partition 733B. The number of the spacers 733 may be one or three or more. The first and second partition portions 733A and 733B partition the space above the carrier tape 732 covered by the cover 734 at predetermined intervals in the width direction, thereby partitioning the space above the carrier tape 732 covered by the cover 734 into a plurality of spaces. Thereby, a plurality of paths S21, S22, S23 are formed. The paths S21 to S23 correspond to the "second conveyance path" of the present invention.

The first and second spacers 733A and 733B are provided at positions not contacting the conveying belt 732. Therefore, the first and second spacers 733A and 733B do not interfere with the rotation operation of the conveying belt 732, and do not contact each other and wear.

As shown in fig. 8, the first partition 733A is provided at the same position as the first partition 711A of the reject discharge chute 71 in the width direction. Similarly, the second partition 733B is provided at the same position as the second dividing portion 711B in the width direction. That is, the paths S21 to S23 of the acceptable product discharge conveyor 73 communicate with the paths S11 to S13 of the acceptable product discharge chute 71, respectively. Thus, the tablets 9A to 9C supplied from the paths S11 to S13 of the acceptable product discharge chute 71 to the acceptable product discharge conveyor 73 are supplied to the different paths S21 to S23, respectively. Specifically, the tablet 9A passing through the path S11 is supplied to the path S21. The tablet 9B passing through the path S12 is supplied to the path S22. The tablet 9C passing through the path S13 is supplied to the path S23. Thus, the tablets 9A to 9C are conveyed to the outside of the tablet printing apparatus 1 by the acceptable product discharge conveyor 73 without touching each other.

The first dividing portion 711A and the first spacer 733A may be provided at different positions in the width direction. The second dividing portion 711B and the second spacer 733B may be provided at different positions in the width direction. As long as the tablets 9A to 9C are not in contact with each other, and the tablets 9A to 9C can be supplied from S11 to S13 to S21 to S23, respectively, the positions of the respective dividing portions 711A, 711B and the respective spacing portions 733A, 733B can be changed.

The tablets 9 conveyed by the acceptable product discharge conveyor 73 move on the conveying belt 732 due to inertial force or the like acting on the tablets 9 when the conveying belt 732 rotates. At this time, if the distance between the tablets 9 in the conveying direction is small, the tablets 9 conveyed on the same paths S21 to S23 may contact each other. To solve this problem, the speed at which the acceptable product discharge conveyor 73 conveys the tablets 9 is set to be higher than the speed at which the conveying conveyor 25 conveys the tablets 9, so that the distance between the tablets 9 passing through the same paths S21 to S23 in the conveying direction is increased. Therefore, contact between the tablets 9 can be suppressed.

Tablets 9A to 9C conveyed on paths S21 to S23 are joined at a conforming product discharge port 74, and discharged to the outside of tablet printing apparatus 1. During the conveyance through the conforming product discharge chute 71 and the conforming product discharge conveyor 73, the ink applied to the tablets 9A to 9C is naturally dried. Therefore, even if the tablets 9 are in contact with each other at the acceptable product discharge ports 74, the ink applied to the tablets 9 is not transferred to other tablets 9.

As described above, in the tablet printing apparatus 1, when a plurality of tablets 9 determined to be acceptable are discharged from the conveying conveyor 25 at once, the respective tablets 9 are passed through different paths S11 to S13. This can suppress contact between the tablets 9 judged to be acceptable. Therefore, transfer of the ink applied to the tablet 9 to other tablets 9 can be suppressed. In addition, since the number of tablets judged to be defective in the final test can be reduced, the amount of waste of medical resources can be suppressed.

<3 > modification example

While the above description has been given of one embodiment of the present invention, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment.

Although the printing portion 35 is provided with four heads 36 in the above embodiment, the number of heads 36 included in the printing portion 35 may be one to three or five or more.

In the above embodiment, the tablets 9 discharged from the conveyor belt 27 at the discharge position P4 are supplied to the acceptable product discharge conveyor 73 via the acceptable product discharge chute 71. However, the acceptable product discharge chute 71 may not be provided, and the tablets 9 may be directly supplied from the conveying belt 27 to the acceptable product discharge conveyor 73 at the discharge position P4. At this time, the acceptable product discharge conveyor 73 corresponds to the "discharge portion" of the present invention, and the paths S21 to S23 correspond to the "first conveying path" of the present invention.

In the above embodiment, the spacer 733 extends from the cover 734 toward the conveyance belt 732 in a direction perpendicular to the cover 734. However, the spacer 733 may be provided on the surface of the carrier tape 732. For example, as the spacer 733, a plurality of protrusions arranged in the conveying direction are provided on the surface of the conveying belt 732 to separate the paths S21 to S23.

In addition, the elements described in the above embodiments or modifications may be appropriately selected within a range where no contradiction occurs.

Claims

1. A granular material printing device is provided with:

a conveying mechanism for holding the granular objects and conveying the granular objects along a conveying path;

a printing unit that prints the surface of the granular material on the conveying path of the conveying mechanism;

a discharge unit for conveying the granular material printed by the printing unit to the outside of the granular material printing device,

the discharge portion includes a plurality of first conveyance paths,

when the discharge unit collectively conveys a plurality of the granular objects, the discharge unit conveys the plurality of granular objects by passing the granular objects through different first conveyance paths.

2. The pellet printing apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein,

the device is provided with:

a discharge conveyor for conveying the granular material to the outside by rotating a conveying belt for supporting the granular material,

the discharge part is a discharge chute for supplying the granular material to the discharge conveyor,

the discharge conveyor includes a plurality of second conveying paths,

when the discharge conveyor conveys a plurality of the granular materials at a time, the granular materials supplied from the first conveying path are conveyed through the second conveying paths, which are different from each other, so as to convey the granular materials.

3. The pellet printing apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein,

the speed of the discharge conveyor for conveying the granular objects is greater than the speed of the conveying mechanism for conveying the granular objects.

4. A pellet printing apparatus as claimed in claim 2 or 3, wherein,

the discharge conveyor is positioned under the vertical part of the conveying mechanism,

the discharge chute includes an inclined surface inclined with respect to the vertical direction.

5. A pellet printing apparatus as claimed in claim 2 or 3, wherein,

the discharge conveyor includes:

one or more spacers that divide a space above the conveying belt by a predetermined interval in a width direction orthogonal to a conveying direction of the granular objects, and form a plurality of the second conveying paths in the space above the conveying belt.