JP2001294204A - Method and apparatus for packaging - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a packaging method wherewith matters to be packaged such as tablets or the like can be put certainly and stably into a palstic tray, and a blister package such as press-through pack or the like can be made stably with defective package being prevented to as much extent as possible. SOLUTION: An injection drum is arranged at a position close to the upside of a conveying plastic plate (a), and tablets (e) are held, and sucked at the outer circumferential face of the injection drum so as to project beyond the surface. The tablets being sucked and held at the outer circumferential face of the injection drum are put into housing recessions (c) of the plastic plate with the state of being sucked and held released, and thereby the matters to be packaged are put in the housing recessions (c) for package.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a packaging method and a packaging apparatus capable of reliably packaging various articles without causing defective filling of the articles, and more particularly to a method and apparatus for packaging tablets and capsules in PTP. The present invention relates to a suitably used packaging method and packaging apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, PTP (Press), which is a kind of blister packaging, has been used as a packaging form for tablets and capsules.
(Through Pack) packaging is frequently used.

For example, PTP packaging of tablets is performed by the method shown in FIG. That is, a belt-shaped plastic sheet a is fed out of a sheet roll (not shown) by a sheet feeding conveyance roller (not shown), and is continuously conveyed. Thermoforming a large number of receiving recesses c in an aligned state,
After the tablet e is put into the accommodation recess c by the article input machine d, the easily breakable film g is continuously and thermally bonded to the surface of the plastic sheet a at the sealing portion f to close the accommodation recess c. In general, a method of cutting a plastic sheet a into a predetermined length and a predetermined shape by a cutting section not to be used and performing PTP packaging is adopted.

In this case, as the above-mentioned feeding machine for feeding the tablets e into the accommodating recess c formed in the plastic sheet a, an apparatus for introducing the tablets into the accommodating recess c of the plastic sheet a by a mechanism shown in FIG. Is known (Japanese Patent Publication No. 53-1543). That is, as shown in FIG. 12, a plastic sheet a being conveyed on a charging drum j having a plurality of holding pockets k formed on the outer peripheral surface.
And a tablet e using this charging drum j.
There is known a method of continuously feeding a liquid into a recess c provided in a plastic sheet a.

The operation of feeding the tablet e by the mechanism shown in FIG. 12 will be briefly described as follows. A tablet e is supplied from a hopper (not shown) or the like through the supply pipe m to the transport pocket k of the charging drum j in an upright state, and the tablet e is transported downward by the rotation of the charging drum j. The posture of the tablet e is changed from the upright posture to the prone posture, and the tablet e is dropped from the transport pocket k to the accommodation recess c of the plastic sheet a at the lowermost position.
Is inserted into the recess c. here,
N in FIG. 12 denotes a charging drum j to prevent the tablet e from spilling out of the transport pocket k during transport.
Is a guide plate disposed so as to cover a half circumferential portion of the tablet e, and the tablet e in an upright state is provided by an attitude control groove p provided in the guide plate n.
Is turned sideways to shift to a prone state.

[0006]

However, when tablets are packaged by PTP using the tablet dispenser shown in FIG. 12, the distance h from the transport pocket k of the dispensing drum j to the bottom of the recess c of the plastic sheet a is reduced. Is relatively long, the tablet e stored in the transport pocket k cannot always be loaded into the storage recess c of the plastic sheet a in a stable posture, and tablet loading failure is likely to occur.

That is, in the tablet feeding machine shown in FIG.
The tablets e are loaded by dropping the tablets e stored and held in the concave transport pockets k formed on the outer peripheral surface of the charging drum k into the storage recesses c of the plastic sheet a. Even if the outer peripheral surface of the charging drum j is disposed close to the surface of the plastic sheet a, the falling distance h of the tablet e is at least the depth of the accommodating recess c, and the tablet e falls into the accommodating recess c. In this case, the posture is disturbed, the tablet e protrudes from the accommodating recess c, or the tablet e enters, so that a packaging failure is likely to occur.
In this case, the tablet e protruding from the accommodating recess c is crushed by being caught in a roller or the like by a sealing portion f (see FIG. 11) for thermally bonding the coating material g, and the fragments are wrapped together with the subsequent tablets. It also causes problems such as getting lost.

In the above-mentioned tablet feeding machine, the feeding drum j
Since the tablet e is accommodated and held in the transport pocket k and transported to the accommodation recess c of the plastic sheet a, a charging drum having an appropriate transport pocket k corresponding to the tablet e to be packaged is required. When applied to a plurality of types of tablets e having different shapes and sizes, a loading drum provided with an appropriate transport pocket k for each type of tablet e is necessary, and the loading drum is changed every time the type of tablet is changed. It is necessary to replace the drum j.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and it is possible to reliably insert a packaged article such as a tablet in a stable posture into a storage recess formed in a plastic tray such as a plastic sheet, and to prevent defective packaging. Generation can be prevented as much as possible, and blister packaging such as PTP packaging can be performed stably and reliably, and the invention can be applied to a plurality of types of articles to be packaged without complicated work such as replacement of a charging drum. It is an object of the present invention to provide a packaging method and a packaging device capable of performing the above-mentioned operations.

[0010]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above object, the present invention conveys a preformed thermoformed plastic tray continuously at a constant speed, and receives a recess formed in the plastic tray during the conveyance. After charging and storing the article to be packaged, the packaging material is thermally bonded to the surface of the plastic tray on the downstream side to close the accommodation recess, thereby providing a blister packaging method for the article to be packaged.
A loading drum rotating in the same direction as the transport direction of the plastic tray is disposed near the upper surface side of the plastic tray to be transported, and the article to be packaged protrudes from the outer peripheral surface of the drum on the outer peripheral surface of the loading drum. By inserting the article to be packaged, which is sucked and held on the outer peripheral surface of the charging drum, into the accommodation recess of the plastic tray to release the suction holding state, the article to be packaged is accommodated in the accommodation recess of the plastic tray. Provided is a packaging method characterized by being charged.

[0011] In the packaging method of the present invention, a charging drum which rotates at the same peripheral speed as the conveying speed of the plastic film is disposed in the vicinity of the upper surface side of a plastic tray such as a plastic sheet whose storage recess is formed in advance by thermoforming. Then, an article to be packaged such as a tablet is sucked and held on the outer peripheral surface of the charging drum so as to protrude from the outer circumferential surface of the drum, and is conveyed to the accommodating recess of the plastic tray by rotation of the charging drum. By inserting an article to be packaged such as a tablet into the accommodating recess of the plastic tray while releasing it and releasing the suction holding state, the article to be packaged such as a tablet is put into the accommodating recess of the plastic tray. .

As described above, according to the packaging method of the present invention, articles to be packaged such as tablets sucked and held on the outer peripheral surface of the charging drum are charged into the accommodating recess such as a plastic sheet while being held on the outer peripheral surface of the drum. In this case, the article to be packaged such as a tablet sucked and held on the outer peripheral surface of the charging drum is sucked and held in a state protruding from the outer circumferential surface of the drum, and the above-described article is held while being held on the outer circumferential surface of the drum. When the suction holding state is released in this state after being inserted into the accommodating concave portion, the drum is shifted from the outer peripheral surface of the charging drum into the accommodating concave portion.

Therefore, according to the packaging method of the present invention, the article to be packaged, such as a tablet, is inserted into the housing recess while being held in a stable posture sucked and held on the outer peripheral surface of the charging drum, and the suction holding state is released. Since the articles to be packaged such as tablets are put into the accommodation recesses provided in the plastic tray such as a plastic sheet in an extremely stable posture, for example, the tablets of the articles to be packaged may protrude from the accommodation recesses. A device that can reliably and stably insert articles to be packaged such as tablets into the accommodation recesses without causing inconveniences such as intruding, and can prevent occurrence of packaging defects as much as possible. It is.

Furthermore, in the packaging method of the present invention, since the article to be packaged such as a tablet is suction-held on the outer peripheral surface of the charging drum as described above, the shape and size of the article to be packaged change. However, these changes can be tolerated within a certain range, and can be applied to a plurality of types of articles to be packaged without performing a complicated charging drum replacement operation.

According to the present invention, as a packaging apparatus for performing blister packaging by the above-described packaging method of the present invention, a plastic tray which has been thermoformed in advance is continuously conveyed at a constant speed, and formed on the plastic tray during the conveyance. After the article to be packaged is charged and accommodated in the accommodated recess, the coating material is thermally bonded to the surface of the plastic tray on the downstream side to close the accommodating recess. There, a transport unit that continuously transports a plastic tray that has been thermoformed in advance at a constant speed,
The outer peripheral surface is disposed close to the upper surface of the plastic tray conveyed by the conveying mechanism, and rotates in the same direction as the conveying direction of the plastic tray, and the article to be packaged protrudes from the outer peripheral surface of the drum on the outer peripheral surface. A feeding drum for feeding the articles to be packed into the receiving recesses of the plastic tray by suction-holding and transporting the articles, and a supply for aligning the articles to be packed and supplying the articles to the outer peripheral surface of the feeding drum at a predetermined speed. And a packaging device comprising:

In the packaging apparatus of the present invention, a plastic tray, such as a plastic sheet, in which a receiving recess is thermoformed in advance by the above-described transport section, is continuously transported at a constant speed, and is disposed close to the upper surface of the plastic tray. The articles to be packaged, such as tablets, are aligned and supplied at a predetermined speed from the supply section to the charging drum, and the articles to be packaged are suction-held and conveyed to the outer peripheral surface of the charging drum, and are conveyed in the receiving recess of the plastic tray. And the receiving recess of the plastic tray is covered with a coating material on the downstream side in the transport direction to perform blister packaging such as PTP packaging.

In this case, in the packaging apparatus of the present invention, the article to be packaged, such as a tablet, sucked and held on the outer peripheral surface of the charging drum projects from the outer peripheral surface of the drum. When being charged, the suction holding state is released after being inserted into the storage recess while being suction-held on the charging drum outer peripheral surface, and the article to be packaged is loaded into the storage recess of the plastic tray, According to the packaging method of the present invention, blister packaging such as PTP packaging is performed.

Therefore, according to the packaging apparatus of the present invention, there is no inconvenience that the article to be packaged such as a tablet protrudes from or enters the recessed portion of the plastic tray, and the tablet or the like is reliably and stably provided. The article to be packaged can be put into the accommodation recess, and the occurrence of defective packaging can be prevented as much as possible. Further, the present invention can be used for a plurality of types of articles to be packaged without requiring replacement of the charging drum.

[0019]

The present invention will be described below more specifically with reference to examples. FIG. 1 shows a tablet prepared by the packaging method of the present invention.
FIG. 9 shows a tablet inputting machine portion constituting a packaging apparatus for P-packaging. This packaging apparatus is an inputting machine d in the above-described packaging apparatus shown in FIG. And a supply unit 2 for supplying the powder to the tablet feeder. In FIG. 1, parts other than the tablet feeding machine are omitted because they are the same as those of the above-described packaging apparatus of FIG.

As shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, each of the charging drums 1 has an outer cylinder 12 rotatably disposed outside an inner cylinder 11, and the outer cylinder 12 is configured as shown in FIGS. 2. It rotates continuously at a predetermined speed along the outer circumference of the inner cylinder 11 in a counterclockwise direction (the direction of the arrow in the figure).

The inner cylinder 11 is provided with a through groove 11 along a circumferential direction at about a half-circumferential portion substantially corresponding to the tablet conveying area.
1 is formed. In addition, the outer cylinder 12 has a structure shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 4, a plurality (6 in FIG.
The suction groove 121 is formed along the circumferential direction, and a number of suction holes 122 are continuously formed in the suction groove 121 along the circumferential direction. A T-shaped rubber ring (annular elastic body) 12 along
3 is mounted with the suction hole 122 interposed therebetween.

The inside of the inner cylinder 11 is constantly sucked and kept in a decompressed state. In the transport area of the tablet e, the inside of each of the suction grooves 121 is sucked from the suction hole 122 of the outer cylinder 12 through the through groove 111. It is supposed to. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the tablet e is sucked and held by the suction force in a state of straddling the rubber ring 123 on the through groove 111 on the outer peripheral surface of the outer cylinder 12. The tablet e sucked and held on the outer peripheral surface of the outer cylinder 12 projects from the outer peripheral surface of the outer cylinder 12.

As shown in FIG. 1, the charging drum 1 has an outer peripheral surface above a plastic sheet (plastic tray) a conveyed at a predetermined speed by a plurality of conveying rollers (not shown). The outer cylindrical body 12 is arranged close to the upper surface of the plastic sheet a so that the outer cylindrical body 12 continuously rotates at the same peripheral speed as the conveying speed of the plastic sheet a. And the above-mentioned supply unit 2
, The tablet e is received at the uppermost portion of the charging drum 1, held on the outer peripheral surface of the outer cylinder 12, and conveyed downward by the rotation of the outer cylinder 12, and the accommodation recess formed in the plastic sheet a at the lowermost portion The tablet e is put into the c.

As shown in FIG. 2, a compressed air jet nozzle 13 is provided at the lowermost portion of the charging drum 1 and the tablets are compressed by the compressed air jetted from the compressed air jet nozzle 13. e shifts from the outer peripheral surface of the charging drum 1 to the accommodating recess c of the plastic sheet a.

That is, as shown in FIG. 7, the tablets e sucked and held on the outer peripheral surface of the outer cylinder 12 of the charging drum 1 are transferred from the charging drum 1 to the plastic sheet a once, as shown in FIG. At this time, the compressed air ejected from the compressed air ejection nozzle 13 disposed inside the charging drum 1 at this time is:
The tablets e are ejected from the suction grooves 121 of the outer cylinder 12 through the through grooves 111 of the inner cylinder 11 and the suction holes 122 of the outer cylinder 12, and the compressed air releases the tablets e from the outer peripheral surface of the charging drum 1 to store the c in the plastic sheet a. Is passed on to

Next, as shown in FIG. 1, the supply section 2 for supplying the tablets e, which are articles to be packaged, to the outer peripheral surface of the charging drum 1 is appropriately supplied from a hopper (not shown) or the like. A tablet container 21 for temporarily storing tablets e supplied by disengaging the mechanism, a diaphragm 22 for conveying the tablets e in the tablet container 21 onto the charging drum 1, and a tip of the diaphragm 22 for transferring the tablets e And a tablet supply roller 23 that is moved from the section onto the charging drum 1.

As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the tablet storage section 21 has a turntable 211 which is driven by a motor m and rotates at a predetermined speed, and a rotation of the turntable 211 on the turntable 211. Outer chamber 21 formed by ring-shaped peripheral wall 212a arranged concentrically with the center
2 and an inner chamber 213 formed by a ring-shaped peripheral wall 213a having a smaller diameter than the outer chamber 212 disposed eccentrically with the rotation center of the turntable 211 inside the outer chamber 212.
And the turntable 21 in the outer chamber 212.
And a communication body 214 disposed on the first communication body.

A communication window 216 communicating with the outer chamber 212 is partially formed on the peripheral wall 213a forming the inner chamber 213.
Is provided, and an obstacle wall 215a is provided in the vicinity of the communication window 216.
Inner room 21 that moves circularly with turntable 211
The tablets e in 3 are moved toward the communication window 216, and the tablets e move to the outer chamber 212 through the communication window 216. The outer chamber 212 also has a peripheral wall 212.
A similar obstacle wall 215b as described above is provided in the vicinity of the connecting member 214 on the near side in the rotation direction with respect to the communication body 214, and the tablet which has moved to the outer peripheral edge of the outer chamber 212 due to centrifugal force due to the obstacle wall 215b is placed inside. Return to the contact body 214
It leads to.

As shown in FIG. 8, the connecting member 214 is a substantially plate-like member which is curved in an arc along the peripheral edge of the outer chamber 212. Are arranged substantially in contact with the turntable 211 in the outer chamber 212 along one end, one end of which is opposed to the rotation direction of the turntable 211 and the other end is a peripheral wall 612a of the outer chamber 212. Is connected to the diaphragm 22 (see FIG. 1). A plurality of (six in the figure) communication paths 217 having an open lower surface are formed in the communication body 214, and the communication paths 217 are set to have a width and a height that allow the tablet e to flow in a flat state. And the open lower surface is closed by the rotating turntable 211. One end of the communication path 217 is opened on the turntable 211 in the outer chamber 212 so as to face the rotation direction of the turntable 211, and the other end is connected to the tablet supply path 221 of the diaphragm 22. Are linked.

Further, as shown in FIG. 5, the diaphragm 22 has one end positioned near the outer peripheral surface of the charging drum 1 and the other end connected to the connecting member 214. A plurality of (six in this example) tablet supply passages 221 through which the tablet e can circulate in a flat state are formed therein. In addition, these tablet supply paths 221 are in a state where the upper surface of one end disposed near the charging drum 1 is partially open.

The vibration plate 22 is provided with a vibration generator 24 (FIG. 1).
The tablet e introduced from the communication path 217 of the communication body 214 into the tablet supply path 221 is moved by the vibration to one end close to the outer peripheral surface of the charging drum 1. It is designed to move continuously.

Further, the supply roller 23 is an elastic roller made of silicone rubber or the like. As shown in FIG. 5, a part of the outer peripheral portion is provided at one end of the diaphragm 22. It is disposed so as to enter the tablet supply path 221 from the opened portion. The supply roller 23 rotates at a constant speed at an arbitrary speed, and moves the tablet e from one end of the vibration plate 22 onto the charging drum 1 at an arbitrary speed.

The supply section 2 composed of the tablet storage section 21, the vibration plate 22, and the tablet supply roller 23 receives the tablets e randomly supplied from a hopper (not shown) by an appropriate means in a flat state. It is supplied continuously to the outer peripheral surface of the drum 1.

That is, the tablet e is continuously or intermittently introduced into the inner chamber 213 of the tablet storage section 21 through the communication chute 25 (see FIG. 8) by a suitable means from a hopper (not shown) or the like. This tablet e is the same as the turntable 2
11, moves in the inner chamber 213 while making a circular motion, and sequentially moves through the communication window 216 to the outer chamber 212, and further rotates by turning the turntable 211.
12 to the outside while moving in the outside.
The vehicle enters the communication path 217 of No. 4. And this connection 2
17, the liquid is continuously introduced into the tablet supply path 221 of the vibration plate 22, and is sequentially moved to the outer peripheral surface of the charging drum 1 by the supply roller 23 at one end of the vibration plate 22, so that the tablet e is moved to a predetermined position. It is continuously supplied to the charging drum 1 at a speed.

Next, the operation of the packaging apparatus of this embodiment will be described. Similar to the packaging device shown in FIG. 11, the packaging device of the present example converts a strip-shaped plastic sheet a to a sheet roll (not shown) by a sheet feeding conveyance roller (not shown).
And the sheet is continuously conveyed. During the conveyance, a large number of recesses c are formed on the plastic sheet a by the thermoforming drum b.
Are thermoformed in an aligned state, tablets e are charged into the recess c by the tablet dispenser d, and the easily breakable film g is continuously thermally adhered to the surface of the plastic sheet a at the sealing portion f, and the above-described housing is performed. After closing the concave portion c, the plastic sheet a is cut into a predetermined length and a predetermined shape by a cutting portion (not shown), and the tablet e is PTP-packed. In this case, in the apparatus of the present embodiment, the tablet input device d The tablet e is loaded into the recess c of the plastic sheet a using the loading roller 1 and the supply unit 2.

The injection of the tablet e into the accommodation recess c in the packaging apparatus of this embodiment is performed as follows. First, the tablet e is continuously or intermittently supplied from the hopper (not shown) or the like into the inner chamber 213 of the tablet storage section 21 through the communication chute 25 (see FIG. 8). The tablet e inserted into the inner chamber 213 of the tablet storage section 21 is
As shown in FIG. 8, the rotation of the turntable 211 causes the inner window 213 to move in the inner chamber 213 while making a circular motion in a flat state, and the communication window 21 provided on the peripheral wall 213 a of the inner chamber 213
6 and sequentially moves to the outer chamber 212. This outside room 21
The tablet e that has moved to the position 2 is pushed outward by the outer peripheral surface of the peripheral wall 213a forming the inner chamber 213 while rotating in a flat state by the rotation of the turntable 211, and further moves outward in the outer chamber 212. The communication path 217 of the communication body 214 disposed along the peripheral portion in the outer chamber 212
And enters the tablet supply path 221 of the diaphragm 22 through the communication path 217.

As shown in FIG. 5, the tablet e introduced into the tablet supply path 221 of the vibrating plate 22 comes close to the outer peripheral surface of the charging drum 1 in a flat state due to the slight vibration of the vibrating plate 22. Is sequentially moved to one end of the vibration plate 22 arranged at a predetermined speed. At one end of the vibration plate 22, the supply roller 23 is rotated at a predetermined speed and supplied one by one to the outer peripheral surface of the charging drum 1 at a predetermined speed. Is done.

The tablets e supplied on the charging drum 1
As shown in FIGS. 4 to 6, is sucked and held in a flat state on a rubber ring 123 mounted on the outer periphery of the outer cylinder 12, and is conveyed downward by continuous rotation of the outer cylinder 12.
Here, the tablets e supplied from the vibration plate 22 to the charging drum 1 are supplied at regular intervals in accordance with the rotation speed of the supply roller 23, and as shown in FIG. Suction is held and transported in a state of being aligned along the axial direction and the circumferential direction and completely projecting from the surface of the drum 1.

As shown in FIG. 2, each tablet e sucked and held on the outer peripheral surface of the outer cylinder 12 of the charging drum 1 is conveyed downwardly in an aligned state by the rotation of the outer cylinder 12, as shown in FIG.
The lowermost portion is fed into the accommodation recess c of the plastic sheet a.

In this case, the rotation speed of the outer cylinder 12 of the charging drum 1 is set to a peripheral surface speed that completely matches the transport speed of the plastic sheet a, and the supply roller 23 (see FIG. 5) supplies the tablet e. The timing is also adjusted in accordance with the conveying speed of the plastic sheet a and the interval between the respective accommodating recesses c, so that the tablets e sucked and held on the outer peripheral surface of the charging drum 1 have the interval between the tablets e along the drum circumferential direction. It is the same as the interval between the respective accommodation recesses c of the sheet a. Accordingly, each tablet e sucked and held on the outer peripheral surface of the outer cylinder 12 of the charging drum 1 and conveyed is completely aligned with the accommodation recess c of the plastic sheet a at the lowermost portion of the charging drum 1, and at this time, The tablet e moves from the charging drum 1 to the recess c of the plastic sheet a.

The transfer of the tablet e from the charging drum 1 to the accommodation recess of the plastic sheet a is performed as follows.
That is, as shown in FIG. 7, the tablets e sucked and held on the outer peripheral surface of the charging drum 1 so as to protrude from the outer peripheral surface of the drum.
Is inserted into the accommodating recess c of the plastic sheet a while being held on the outer peripheral surface of the charging drum 1, and is ejected from the compressed air injection nozzle 13 disposed in the charging drum 1 at this time. The suction holding state of the tablet e is released by the compressed air, and the tablet e is
Of the plastic sheet a into the receiving recess c of the plastic sheet a.

Thereafter, the easily breakable film g is continuously and thermally bonded to the surface of the plastic sheet a at the sealing portion f (see FIG. 11) to close the housing recess c, and then the plastic sheet a is cut by a not-shown cutting portion. Is cut into a predetermined length and a predetermined shape, and tablets e are continuously PTP-packaged.

As described above, in the packaging method of the present invention using the above-described packaging apparatus, the tablet e sucked and held on the outer peripheral surface of the charging drum 1 is loaded into the accommodation recess c of the plastic sheet a. In this case, the tablet e sucked and held on the outer circumferential surface of the charging drum 1 is sucked and held while protruding from the outer circumferential surface of the drum, and is inserted into the accommodation recess c while being held on the outer circumferential surface of the charging drum 1. In this state, when the suction holding state is released, the outer peripheral surface of the charging drum 1 is moved into the accommodation recess c.

Accordingly, the tablet e is inserted into the accommodating recess c of the plastic sheet a while being held in a stable posture while being sucked and held on the outer peripheral surface of the charging drum 1, the suction holding state is released, and the tablet e is inserted into the accommodating recess a. Since the tablet e is put, the tablet e is put into the accommodation recess c provided in the plastic sheet a in a very stable posture, and the tablet e does not inconvenience such as protruding or entering the accommodation recess c, The tablet e can be reliably and stably charged into the accommodating recess c, and the occurrence of defective packaging can be prevented as much as possible.

Further, in the packaging method using the packaging apparatus of the present embodiment, since the tablet e is held by suction on the outer peripheral surface of the charging drum 1 as described above, even if the shape or size of the tablet changes. These changes can be tolerated within a certain range, and can be applied to a plurality of types of tablets without performing complicated replacement work of the charging drum 1.
Further, the present invention can be applied to packages other than tablets such as capsules without changing the charging drum 1.

The packaging method and packaging device of the present invention
The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and may be variously modified within the scope of the present invention. For example, in the above embodiment, a method and an apparatus for PTP packaging tablets are shown. However, in addition to tablets, capsules, tablets or capsule-filled health foods, candies, confectionery or foods such as granulated gum, etc. are PTP-packaged. The present invention can be suitably applied to the case where the present invention is applied, and the present invention is not limited to the PTP packaging. Get
In this case, instead of the plastic sheet a, a large number of plastic trays formed in a predetermined shape may be continuously conveyed, and the articles to be packaged may be loaded into the plastic tray by the loading drum.

Also, the configuration of the packaging device can be appropriately changed, and a supply unit 2 for supplying tablets e to the charging drum 1 is provided.
Also, the transport mechanism of the plastic sheet, the sealing mechanism of the covering material, and the like can be appropriately changed. For example, as shown in FIG. 10, recesses 231 are provided at regular intervals on the outer peripheral surface of a supply roller 23 that supplies tablets e to the loading drum 1, and articles to be packaged e ′ are loaded from the diaphragm 22 by the recesses 231. The transfer to the drum 1 can also be performed, whereby the supply speed of the article to be packaged e 'can be made more accurate. FIG. 10 shows an example in which a capsule (soft capsule) is used as the article to be packaged e ′.
Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the charging drum 1 is rotated at the same peripheral speed as the conveying speed of the plastic sheet a. The peripheral speed of the charging drum 1 and the transport speed of the plastic sheet a may be different as long as the tablet e and the accommodating recess c of the plastic sheet a coincide with each other at the lower portion. Further, in the above-described embodiment, the tablet e held on the outer peripheral surface of the charging drum 1 is transferred into the accommodating recess c of the plastic sheet a by the compressed air from the compressed air injection nozzle 13, but the suction state is simply released. Then, the tablet e may be naturally dropped into the accommodation recess c, and other configurations may be appropriately changed without departing from the gist of the present invention.

[0048]

As described above, according to the packaging method and the packaging apparatus of the present invention, articles to be packaged, such as tablets, are reliably placed in a stable posture in the receiving recess formed in the plastic tray, such as a plastic sheet. It is possible to stably and surely perform blister packaging such as PTP packaging by preventing the occurrence of packaging defects as much as possible, and to perform multiple types of packaging without the need for complicated work such as replacing a charging drum. Can be applied to the articles to be packaged.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partial schematic view showing a packaging device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic sectional view showing the configuration and operation of a charging drum constituting the packaging apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing the charging drum.

FIG. 4 is a partially enlarged sectional view showing the charging drum.

FIG. 5 is a partially enlarged cross-sectional view illustrating a supply unit that supplies tablets to the outer peripheral surface of the charging drum.

FIG. 6 is a partial perspective view showing a state where the tablet is suction-held on the outer peripheral surface of the charging drum.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing a portion where tablets are supplied from the charging drum to the plastic sheet.

FIG. 8 is a plan view in which a part of a tablet accommodating unit constituting a supply unit of the packaging device is shown in cross section.

FIG. 9 is a schematic sectional view showing the tablet container.

FIG. 10 is a schematic view showing another example of a supply drum constituting a supply section of the packaging device.

FIG. 11 is a schematic view showing an example of a packaging device for PTP packaging tablets.

FIG. 12 is a schematic sectional view showing a tablet feeding machine in a conventional packaging apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 charging drum 11 inner cylinder 111 through groove 12 outer cylinder 121 suction groove 122 suction hole 123 rubber ring (annular elastic body) 13 compressed air jet nozzle 2 supply unit 21 tablet storage unit 211 turntable 212 outer chamber 213 inner chamber 214 communication body 22 Vibrating plate 23 Supply roller a Plastic sheet (plastic tray) b Thermoforming drum c Housing recess d Feeder e Tablet (packaged article) e 'Capsule (packaged article) f Seal section g Frangible film (coating material)

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A plastic tray which has been thermoformed in advance is continuously conveyed at a constant speed, and articles to be packaged are charged and accommodated in an accommodating recess formed in the plastic tray during the conveyance, and then the downstream side is provided with the articles. In a packaging method of blister-packing the article to be packaged by closing the accommodation recess by thermally bonding the coating material to the surface of the plastic tray,
A loading drum rotating in the same direction as the transport direction of the plastic tray is disposed near the upper surface side of the plastic tray to be transported, and the article to be packaged protrudes from the outer peripheral surface of the drum on the outer peripheral surface of the loading drum. By inserting the article to be packaged, which is sucked and held on the outer peripheral surface of the charging drum, into the accommodation recess of the plastic tray to release the suction holding state, the article to be packaged is accommodated in the accommodation recess of the plastic tray. A packaging method characterized by being charged. 2. The packaging method according to claim 1, wherein the coating material is a PTP package using an easily breakable film. 3. The packaging method according to claim 2, wherein the plastic tray is a PTP sheet obtained by thermoforming a large number of recesses in a plastic sheet that is continuous in a belt shape. 4. The packaging method according to claim 2, wherein the article to be packaged is a tablet or a capsule. 5. A plastic tray which has been thermoformed in advance is continuously conveyed at a constant speed, and articles to be packaged are charged and accommodated in accommodating recesses formed in the plastic tray during the conveyance. A packaging device for blister-packing the article to be packaged by closing the accommodating recess by thermally bonding the covering material to the surface of the plastic tray,
A conveying unit that continuously conveys a preformed plastic tray at a constant speed, and the outer peripheral surface is disposed close to the upper surface of the plastic tray conveyed by the conveying mechanism. A feeding drum for feeding the article to be packaged into the accommodation recess of the plastic tray by rotating in the same direction and sucking and holding the article to be packaged on the outer peripheral surface thereof in a state protruding from the drum outer peripheral surface, and conveying the article; A supply unit for arranging the packaged articles and supplying the packaged articles to the outer peripheral surface of the charging drum at a predetermined speed. 6. The charging drum includes a plurality of suction holes formed in alignment with the outer peripheral surface of the drum, and a plurality of annular elastic bodies mounted along the circumferential direction with the suction holes interposed therebetween. 6. The packaging apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the article to be packaged is sucked over the two annular elastic bodies by a suction force from the suction hole. 7. An inner cylinder in which the charging drum has a through groove extending in a circumferential direction or a large number of through holes continuously provided in a circumferential direction corresponding to at least a transfer range of an article to be packaged. An outer cylinder having the suction hole and the annular elastic body, disposed outside the inner cylinder, and rotating at a predetermined speed along the outer peripheral surface of the inner cylinder; and loading the plastic tray housing recess into the inner cylinder. And a pressurized air ejection portion disposed corresponding to the position, by sucking the inside of the inner cylinder, from the suction hole of the outer cylinder through the through groove or through hole provided in the inner cylinder. The article to be packaged is sucked, the article to be packaged is sucked and held on the surface of the outer cylinder, and the article to be packaged is conveyed to the accommodation recess of the plastic tray by rotation of the outer cylinder, and is ejected from the compressed air ejection section. The packaged articles are stored in the plastic tray The packaging device according to claim 5, wherein the packaging device is configured to be put into the inside. 8. A thermoforming drum for thermoforming the storage recess in the plastic sheet, a transport roller for continuously transporting the plastic sheet, and a surface of the plastic sheet in which the article to be packaged is stored in the storage recess. A sealing portion for continuously thermally bonding the material, and a cutting portion for cutting the plastic sheet to which the coating material is thermally bonded to a predetermined length, and continuously feeding out the plastic sheet from a sheet roll; While being continuously conveyed by the conveying roller, during the conveyance, the accommodation concave portion is thermoformed by the thermoforming drum, the article to be packaged is put into the accommodation concave portion from the charging drum, and the covering material is sealed by the seal portion. The packaging device according to any one of claims 5 to 7, wherein the packaging device is configured to be thermally bonded and cut at the cutting portion. 9. A PTP sheet is formed by forming a large number of recesses in a plastic sheet by the thermoforming drum, and an article to be packaged is loaded. The packaging device according to claim 8, which performs packaging. 10. The packaging device according to claim 5, which is a device for packaging tablets or capsules.