JP2000006905A - Automatic packaging apparatus for drug - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an automatic packaging apparatus for drugs, capable of correctly inspecting whether foreign substances are mixed in a subdivision sheet, even in the case where no inspector attends an inspection conveyor. SOLUTION: A position of a subdivision sheet 15 moving slidingly on a guide plate 25 on an inspection conveyor 21 is determined through a rotary encoder 28. When the subdivision sheet 15 reaches a position substantially beneath an image sensor 33, an image signal is inputted into an image processing unit 35 by allowing an LED 31 to emit light, and the image processing unit 35 produces image data on the subdivision sheet 15 on the basis of the image signal inputted. A density level of both of a drug storing seal portion and a seal bite-in part on the outer circumference of the seal portion is determined respectively on the basis of the image data on the subdivision sheet 15, which are processed by the image processing unit 35. Thereupon, when the density level of the seal portion is outside a first allowable range, or when the density level of the seal bite-in part is outside a second allowable range, the subdivision sheet 15 is discharged through a first damper 26 provided at the guide plate 25.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic medicine packaging apparatus for automatically detecting foreign matter in a packaging sheet filled with a medicine such as powder or granules.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a device for packaging a medicine such as powder or granules, there is a four-side seal type packaging system in which four sides are heat-sealed and sealed. FIG. 9 is a side view showing the outline of the four-side sealing machine. In the case of packing a medicine, first, the medicine 2 charged in the large hopper 1 is taken into the concave groove 4 of the granulator 3 and the small hopper 5 is packed. Send to Next, the table 6 is slid in the direction of arrow a to dispose the filling hole 7 directly below the small hopper 5, and the medicine 2 in the small hopper 5 is dropped into the filling hole 7 to be filled.
Then, the table 6 is slid in the direction of arrow b so that the filling holes 7
The shutter 8 closing the lower part of the shutter is separated and opened,
The medicine 2 in the filling hole 7 is dropped into the collect chute 9. Thereafter, the shutter 10 of the collect chute 9 is opened, and the medicine 2 is applied to the film 12 on the pair of heating rollers 13.
And drop through the chute 11. At this time, the medicine 2 is accommodated between the films 12 in the concave portions 14 of the heating roller 13, the periphery thereof is heat-sealed and sealed therein, and is sent out from the opposite side as a product 15 (packing sheet).

[0003] The packaging sheet 15 packaged in this way is
Although not shown, the weights are weighed by a weight checker, and only those within a predetermined range are sent to the next inspection conveyor to check for foreign matter, etc., and those that pass this are sent out to the secondary packaging room, A plurality of packets are stacked by an accumulator and transported to a band machine, where they are bound by a band or the like and shipped.

[0004]

In the above-described conventional automatic packaging apparatus, the inspection of the package sheets is performed on the inspection conveyor, but this is performed, for example, by inspectors arranged on both sides of the inspection conveyor. As a result, labor costs and the like are increased, and a large amount of operating cost is required, leading to an increase in product cost. In addition, since the inspection is performed for a long time, the physical and mental burdens on the inspector are large, and the inspection lacks accuracy.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve such a problem, and an automatic medicine packaging apparatus capable of accurately inspecting whether or not a foreign matter has entered a packaging sheet without at least an inspector on an inspection conveyor. The purpose is to provide.

[0006]

According to the present invention, there is provided an automatic medicine packaging apparatus, comprising: a first transport section for sliding a packaging sheet filled with medicine on a guide plate at predetermined intervals; A second transport unit that takes in the package sheet slid by the transport unit at a predetermined interval, slides the guide sheet on the guide plate, and transports the package sheet to the stacking machine side, and interposes the guide plate of the second transport unit. A damper that is provided and can be opened downward about one axis, a position detector that detects the position of the packaging sheet that slides on the guide plate by the first and second transport units, A light source unit for irradiating light, an image sensor having a photoelectric conversion element that polarizes reflected light from the light source unit, and generates an image signal according to the amount of light, and a light source unit on the first transport unit. The position of the packaging sheet is determined through the position detection unit, and the packaging sheet is An image processing device that causes the light source unit to emit light when almost immediately below the sensor, inputs an image signal, generates an image of the packaging sheet based on the image signal, and outputs the image data; Based on the image data of the packaging sheet processed by the image processing apparatus, the density level of the seal portion of the medicine storage of the packaging sheet and the density level of the seal biting portion on the outer periphery of the sealing portion are determined, and It is determined whether or not the light and shade level is within a first allowable range set in advance. If the light and shade level is out of the first allowable range, it is regarded as a defective packaging sheet. A package sheet inspecting unit that determines whether or not the light and shade level is within a second allowable range set in advance, and when the light and shade level is out of the second allowable range, the package sheet inspecting unit sets a defective sheet as a separate sheet; Set the sliding position of the packaging sheet A damper control unit that determines through the position detection unit, and that opens the damper downward when the package sheet reaches a predetermined position when a defective package sheet is detected by the package sheet inspection unit. It is provided with.

[0007] When inspecting the seal portion of the medicine storage, the separate sheet inspecting section divides a portion excluding the characters printed on the seal portion to determine whether each gray level is within a first allowable range. Is determined, and when the seal biting portion is inspected, the seal biting portion is divided to determine whether or not each gray level is within a second allowable range.

[0008]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a side view showing detection timing of a first package, and FIG. 3 is detection of a second package. FIG. 4 is a front view of an inspection conveyor in this embodiment, FIG. 5 is a front view of an overhead conveyor,
FIG. 6 is a view for explaining the correction of the positional deviation of the package sheet, FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a region to be inspected on the package sheet, and FIG. 8 is a side view showing the appearance of the automatic packaging apparatus according to the present embodiment. Note that the same or corresponding parts as those in the related art described with reference to FIG.

In the figure, reference numeral 21 denotes an inspection conveyor, 22 denotes an inspection attachment, which is attached at a predetermined interval in a driving direction of the inspection conveyor 21, and
For example, 11 sheets are arranged in the width direction (see FIG. 4), and for driving and driving the inspection conveyor 21, a double packing sheet 15 placed on a guide plate described later is pressed and slid from the rear.

Reference numeral 23 denotes an overhead conveyor, and reference numeral 24 denotes an overhead attachment attached to the overhead conveyor 23. The overhead attachment is attached at a longer interval than the interval between the inspection attachments 22.
11 are arranged in the width direction of the overhead conveyor 23 in accordance with the number of sheets (see FIG. 5), and the packing sheets 15 slid toward the overhead conveyor 23 by the inspection attachment 22 are taken in and conveyed to the stacking machine side. (FIG. 8
reference). The inspection conveyor 21 and the overhead conveyor 23 described above are connected to one electric motor via transmission means, and a rotary encoder 28 is attached to the inspection conveyor 21 side.

A guide plate 25 is laid continuously above the inspection conveyor 21 and below the overhead conveyor 23. As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, a guide groove 25a having a substantially U-shaped cross section is provided in each conveyor 21. , 23 are formed adjacent to each other in the width direction, and elongated holes 25b for guiding the attachments 22 and 24 are formed at the bottom of each guide groove 25a. A pair of first and second dampers 26 and 27 are attached to the guide plate 25 on the overhead conveyor 23 side for each guide groove 25a.

Reference numeral 29 denotes, for example, a cylinder, and a first damper drive unit for opening and returning the first damper 26 downward, and a second damper drive unit 30 for driving the second damper 27. First and second damper driving units 29, 3
0 is provided corresponding to each of the dampers 26 and 27, and is driven based on control of a sequencer described later.
The damper driving unit 30 drives when the packaging sheets 15 sliding in the respective guide grooves 25a are not aligned in the width direction of the conveyor, opens the second damper 27 downward, and removes the packaging sheets 15 in the row. It is designed to discharge.

A first sensor 31 is provided above each guide groove 25a and detects the presence or absence of each packaging sheet 15, respectively. A 32 is, for example, a pair of LEDs provided above each guide groove 25a. Inspection attachment 22
This is for irradiating the packaging sheet 15 on the guide groove 25a slid with the light. 33 is each guide groove 25a
The image sensors provided above the image sensor include a polarizing lens that polarizes the light reflected by the pair of LEDs 32 and a photoelectric conversion element that generates an image signal in accordance with the amount of light passing through the polarizing lens. 34 is provided corresponding to each guide groove 25a, and is a second for detecting the defective packaging sheet 15.
It is a sensor.

Reference numeral 35 denotes an image processing apparatus which determines the positions of the two consecutive packing sheets 15 detected by the first sensor 31 on the basis of a signal from the rotary encoder 28. When the light reaches almost directly below the image sensor 33 (see FIG. 2), the image signal is inputted by emitting the LED 32, and the image of the first packet 15 is generated based on the image signal. The test starts to check for deviation. As shown in FIG. 6, one of the marks 15c printed on the seal biting portion 15b of the packaging sheet 15 is replaced with a pair of A and B parts set in advance. It is determined whether or not the mark 15c is in the area surrounded by the circle. If the mark 15c is not in the area, the position is corrected so as to be in the area. The image data is corrected so as to be located within the range, and the image data is output at the end of the position shift. Next, the second packaging sheet 15
Is determined, and when it is confirmed that the position has reached almost directly below the image sensor 33 (see FIG. 3), the same processing as described above is started.

Reference numeral 36 denotes a sequencer, which includes the packaged sheet inspection unit and the damper control unit of the present invention.
1, when the package sheet 15 on the guide groove 25a is detected, the signal of the rotary encoder 28 is input and
The relay switch 36 is turned on to take the signal into the image processing device 35, and the position of the packaging sheet 15 is determined based on the signal of the rotary encoder 28.

When the image data of the packaging sheet 15 processed by the image processing device 35 is input,
Based on the image data, the density level of the seal portion 15a of the medicine storage of the packaging sheet 15 and the density level of the seal biting portion 15b on the outer periphery of the seal portion 15a are determined, and first, the density level of the seal portion 15a is preset. The first
Is determined to be within the allowable range. Seal part 15
When inspecting a, as shown in FIG. 7, the portion excluding the character printing portion 15d printed on the seal portion 15a is divided (for example, divided into eight), and the divided portions are read in numerical order, and each gray level is set to the first. It is determined whether it is within the allowable range. When the gray level is out of the first allowable range, it is determined that foreign matter is mixed. Next, it is determined whether or not the shade level of the seal biting portion 15b is within a second allowable range set in advance. When inspecting the seal biting portion 15b, as shown in the figure, the seal biting portion 15b is divided into, for example, 10 to determine whether each gray level is within the second allowable range.
When the gray level is out of the second allowable range, it is determined that a foreign substance is pinched.

When any one or both of the foreign matter entry and the foreign matter sandwiching is detected, the sliding position is determined as a defective packaging sheet 15 as a defective product, and the packaging sheet 15 is moved to a predetermined position. That is, when it reaches the vicinity of the first damper 26, the first damper driving unit 29 is driven to open the first damper 26 downward, and the defective packaging sheet 15 is discharged. At this time, the defective image data is stored in a device such as a personal computer (not shown), and when a printout instruction is received by an external operation, the defective image data is output to the printer 39, and a display instruction is given. Display 3 when receiving
8 is displayed.

Further, when the defective package 15 is detected through the second sensor 34, it is determined that the discharge of the defective product has failed, and the inspection conveyor 21 and the overhead conveyor 23 are determined.
Is stopped, and a buzzer or the like is sounded to notify that effect. When all the first sensors 31 do not detect the packaging sheets 15 in the width direction of the inspection conveyor 21, it is determined that the packaging sheets 15 are not aligned in that row, and the second damper driving unit 30 To open the second damper 27, and discharge the packing sheets 15 in each row without inspection.

FIG. 8 shows an automatic packaging apparatus according to this embodiment.
As shown in the figure, a video monitor for adjusting the imaging sensitivity of each image sensor 33 is provided, and is connected to each image processing device 35.

Next, a description will be given of the operation at the time of inspecting the double package sheets. Note that, for convenience of explanation of the operation, each of the guide grooves 25a of the guide plate 25 on the inspection conveyor 21 has
Is slid by the inspection attachment 22. The movement of the inspection attachment 22 causes the first
When the sensor 31 detects the packaging sheet 15, the sequencer 36 determines whether all the first sensors 31 provided for each of the guide grooves 25a have detected the packaging sheet 15, respectively. When the package sheet 15 has not been detected, the off state of the relay switch 37 is maintained, and the sliding position of the double package sheet 15 in that row is determined through the rotary encoder 28. Then, when it is confirmed that the two divided packing sheets 15 have reached the vicinity of the second damper 27, the respective second damper driving units 30 are driven to open the respective second dampers 27 downward, and Are discharged respectively. Further, when the presence of the package sheet 15 in each guide groove 25 a is detected through the first sensor 31, the relay switch 37 is turned on and the sliding position of the double package sheet 15 is determined through the rotary encoder 28. enter.

When the relay switch 37 is turned on, the image processing device 35 determines the sliding position of the double packaging sheets 15 through the rotary encoder 28 and determines the position of the first packaging of the double packaging sheets 15. When the wrapping sheet 15 reaches almost directly below the image sensor 33, the pair of LEDs 32 emit light to irradiate the first wrapping sheet 15. At this time,
Since the image sensor 33 outputs an image signal corresponding to the amount of reflected light from the packaging sheet 15, an image of the first packaging sheet 15 is generated based on the image signal, and an inspection for the presence / absence of displacement is performed. to go into. In this case, one of the marks 15c of the pair of marks 15c printed on the seal biting portion 15b of the packaging sheet 15 is replaced with a pair of preset portions A and B.
It is determined whether or not one of the marks 15c is included in the area surrounded by the mark 15c.
5c is corrected so as to be located within the longitudinal range of the portion B,
At the end of the displacement, the corrected image data of the packaging sheet 15 is output to the sequencer 36. Next, the position of the second packaging sheet 15 is determined, and when it is confirmed that the package has reached almost directly below the image sensor 33, the same processing as described above is started.

On the other hand, the sequencer 36
When the image data from 5 is input, the seal portion 15a of the image data is divided into eight parts as shown in FIG. 7 to determine whether or not each gray level is within a first allowable range set in advance. Are determined in numerical order. First shade level
It is determined that there is no foreign matter when the value is within the allowable range, and when the gray level is outside the first allowable range, it is determined that foreign matter is mixed. Next, the seal biting portion 15b on the outer periphery of the seal portion 15a
Is divided into ten parts as shown in the figure, and it is determined in numerical order whether or not each of the shading levels is within a second allowable range set in advance. If the gray level is within the second allowable range, it is determined that no foreign matter is caught, and the gray level is set to the second level.
If the value is out of the allowable range, it is determined that the foreign matter is pinched.

As described above, when either one or both of the foreign matter inclusion and the foreign matter sandwiching are detected, the sliding position is determined as a defective packing sheet 15 and the sliding sheet 15 is determined in advance. When it is confirmed that it has reached the set position, that is, the vicinity of the first damper 26, the first damper driving unit 29 is driven to open the first damper 26 downward, and the defective packaging sheet 15 is discharged. . Also, when the defective packaging sheet 15 is detected through the second sensor 34,
When it is determined that the discharge of defective products has failed, the driving of the inspection conveyor 21 and the overhead conveyor 23 is stopped, and an alarm is issued to notify the user.

[0024]

As described above, according to the present invention, based on the image data of the packaging sheet processed by the image processing apparatus, the light and shade levels of the seal portion for medicine storage and the seal biting portion on the outer periphery of the seal portion are respectively determined. When the determination is made, and the density level of the seal portion is out of the first allowable range, or when the density level of the seal biting portion is out of the second allowable range, the packaging sheet is provided on the guide plate. The discharge from the damper eliminates the need for an inspector, which has the effect of reducing operating costs and suppressing an increase in product cost.

Further, when inspecting the seal portion of the medicine storage, a portion excluding the characters printed on the seal portion is divided to determine whether each gray level is within a first allowable range, When inspecting the seal biting portion, the seal biting portion is divided to determine whether each gray level is within the second allowable range, so that the inspection of the package sheet can be performed accurately. This has the effect.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view showing the timing of detecting the first package.

FIG. 3 is a side view showing the detection timing of the second package sheet.

FIG. 4 is a front view of the inspection conveyor according to the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a front view of an overhead conveyor.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of correction of a positional shift of a packaging sheet.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a region to be inspected on a packaging sheet.

FIG. 8 is a side view showing the external appearance of the automatic packaging device according to the embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a side view showing an outline of a four-side sealing machine of the automatic packaging device.

[Explanation of symbols]

21 Inspection conveyor, 22 Inspection attachment, 23
Overhead conveyor, 24 overhead attachment, 25 guide plate, 26 first damper, 27 second
Damper, 28 rotary encoder, 29 first damper drive unit, 30 second damper drive unit, 31 first sensor, 32 LED, 33 image sensor, 34 second
Sensor, 35 Image processing device, 36 Sequencer, 37
Relay switch, 38 display, 39 printer.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A first transport unit that slides a package sheet filled with a medicine on a guide plate at a predetermined interval, and takes in the package sheet slid by the first transport unit at a predetermined interval. A second transport unit that slides on the guide plate and transports the stacker side to the stacker; a damper that is provided interposed in the guide plate of the second transport unit and that can be opened downward about one shaft; A position detection unit for detecting a position of the packaging sheet sliding on the guide plate by the first and second transport units; a light source unit for irradiating the packaging sheet with light; and reflected light from the light source unit And an image sensor having a photoelectric conversion element that generates an image signal in accordance with the amount of light of the light, and the position of the packaging sheet on the first transport unit is determined through the position detection unit. The light source unit emits light when the packaging sheet has reached almost directly below the image sensor. An image processing device for inputting an image signal, generating an image of the package sheet based on the image signal, and outputting the image data; and image data of the package sheet processed by the image processing device. The density level of the seal portion of the medicine storage of the packaged sheet and the density level of the seal biting portion on the outer periphery of the seal portion are determined based on the above, and the density level of the seal portion is within a preset first allowable range. It is determined whether or not the density level is outside the first allowable range. If the density level is out of the first allowable range, it is regarded as a defective packaged sheet, and the density level of the seal biting portion is within the second allowable level set in advance. If the density level is out of the second allowable range, it is judged through the position detecting unit that the packing sheet is inspected as a defective packing sheet and the sliding position of the packing sheet. And the packaging sheet And a damper control unit for opening the damper downward when the defective sheet is detected by the inspection unit when the package sheet reaches a predetermined position. Packaging equipment. 2. The packaging sheet inspection unit, when inspecting a seal portion of a medicine storage, divides a portion excluding a character printed on the seal portion, and each shade level is within a first allowable range. Determining whether or not the seal biting portion is divided, and determining whether or not each shade level is within a second allowable range by dividing the seal biting portion. Item 6. An automatic packaging device for a medicine according to Item 1.