JP2007144014A - Device and method for filling capsule - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a capsule filing device which can restrain air from jetting out after a capsule is filled with the air and as a result can prevent a defect in forming a band seal. <P>SOLUTION: The capsule filling device fills the capsule formed of a cap and a body with a filler, and has a filler supply means 22 to supply the filler into the body, a capsule combining means 25 to combine the cap with the body to which the filler is supplied, and a discharge means 40 to discharge the capsule which is a combination of the body and the cap. The capsule combining means 25 has a cap interior heating means 2500 to heat the interior of the cap to a temperature higher than an atmospheric temperature before the cap is combined with the body. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a capsule filling apparatus and method for filling a capsule with powder, granules, liquid, or the like.

  As a conventional capsule filling device, for example, a configuration disclosed in Patent Document 1 is known. In this capsule filling device, a capsule in which a cap and a body are temporarily joined is held at a specific location of the turntable. As the turntable rotates, the cap and the body are separated, and the body is filled with a filling material. And the body are sequentially coupled.

The capsule filled with the filling material by the capsule filling device is applied with a sealing liquid and dried at the joint between the cap and the body by, for example, a capsule sealing device disclosed in Patent Document 2 to form a band seal. The This prevents unauthorized opening in the capsule distribution process, and prevents alteration, leakage, etc. of the filling.
JP-A-2-180265 JP-A-61-68050

  However, in the conventional capsule filling device, since the internal pressure of the capsule is higher than the atmospheric pressure due to the coupling between the cap and the body, the air in the capsule is kept from the gap between the cap and the body for a while after the coupling. It was gradually leaking. For this reason, when a band seal is formed at the joint between the cap and the body by the capsule sealing device, bubbles (bubbles) or perforations may occur in the band seal due to air leakage, yield and quality It was the cause of the decline.

  The present invention has been made to solve such a problem, and a capsule filling device capable of preventing a defect when forming a band seal by suppressing the ejection of air after filling the capsule and The purpose is to provide a method.

  The object of the present invention is an apparatus for filling a filling material in a capsule composed of a cap and a body, the filling material supplying means for supplying the filling material into the body, and the body to which the filling material is supplied. And a discharge means for discharging the capsule in which the body and the cap are combined. The capsule connection means raises the inside of the cap to a temperature higher than the ambient temperature before the cap is connected to the body. This is achieved by a capsule filling device provided with an in-cap high temperature means.

  In this capsule filling device, it is preferable that the in-cap high temperature means is configured to inject hot air into the cap.

  In addition, the capsule filling device may further include a capsule sealing unit that forms a band seal by applying a sealing liquid to a coupling portion of the capsules discharged by the discharging unit.

  Another object of the present invention is a method of filling a filling material in a capsule composed of a cap and a body, the filling material supplying step for supplying the filling material into the body, and the body supplied with the filling material. A capsule coupling step of coupling the cap to the body, and the capsule coupling step is achieved by a capsule filling method including a step of raising the inside of the cap above the ambient temperature before coupling the cap to the body.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to suppress the ejection of air after filling the capsule, thereby preventing defects when forming the band seal.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a side view showing a schematic configuration of a capsule filling device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 2 and 3 are a front view and a plan view thereof, respectively.

  In the capsule filling device 1, a filling mechanism 20, a capsule direction regulating mechanism 30, and a discharging mechanism 40 are provided on a base 10, and the operations of these mechanisms are controlled by an operation panel 50.

  As shown in a longitudinal sectional view in FIG. 4, the capsule direction regulating mechanism 30 includes a hopper 31, a supply drum 32 arranged so that the outer peripheral surface slides below the hopper 31, and an outer periphery below the supply drum 32. A regulating roller 33 arranged so that the surfaces are close to each other, a reversing drum 34 arranged so that the outer peripheral surface is close to the lower side of the regulating roller 33, and a capsule transfer mechanism 35 arranged close to the lower side of the reversing drum 34 It has. When the empty capsule in which the cap and the body are temporarily coupled is inserted into the hopper 31, the empty capsule is supplied to the supply drum 32 by the brush roll 36, and is sequentially transferred to the regulating roller 33 and the reverse drum 34. Are aligned and are transferred to the capsule filling mechanism 20 by the horizontal movement of the capsule transfer mechanism 35 in a state where the upright position (cap is in an upward position) is regulated. Since a specific mechanism for regulating the direction of the capsule is already known (for example, JP-A-61-211213), detailed description is omitted in this specification.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the filling mechanism 20 includes a disc-shaped turntable 21 that can rotate in the horizontal direction, and further, a poorly separated capsule collection mechanism 29 that is sequentially arranged along the outer periphery of the turntable 21. , A filling supply mechanism 22, a vibration applying mechanism 23, a filling quantitative mechanism 24, a capsule coupling mechanism 25, and a cleaning mechanism 26.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the turntable 21 is rotatably supported by a vertical shaft 211, and includes a disk-shaped cap rotating member 212 and a body rotating member 215 that are opposed to each other with an interval in the vertical direction. Yes. The cap rotating member 212 is formed with a large number of cap receiving pockets 213 capable of holding caps, and the body rotating member 215 is formed with a large number of body receiving pockets 216 formed at positions corresponding to the cap receiving pockets 213. Has been. In the present embodiment, the cap accommodation pocket 213 and the body accommodation pocket 216 include, for example, 15 groups arranged in a matrix as one group, and 12 groups (that is, 180 in total) are arranged at equal intervals in the circumferential direction. Yes. The turntable 21 is intermittently driven so that a group of cap accommodation pockets 213 and body accommodation pockets 216 sequentially stop at predetermined positions with respect to each mechanism described in detail later.

  The filling mechanism 20 includes a capsule guide member 27 interposed between the cap rotating member 212 and the body rotating member 215 in the vicinity of the capsule direction regulating mechanism 30 and a capsule separating member disposed below the capsule guide member 27. And a vacuum shoe 28 for use. As shown in FIG. 5A, the capsule guide member 27 includes a capsule guide base 271 having large-diameter pocket holes 272 respectively formed at positions corresponding to the group of cap accommodation pockets 213 and body accommodation pockets 216. And a movable platen 274 to which a guide tube 273 into which a lower end portion is inserted is fixed in the large-diameter pocket hole 272. The movable platen 274 is attached to the tip of an arm 275 that can be moved up and down. The capsule separating vacuum shoe 28 communicates with the lower end opening of the body accommodation pocket 216, and sucks the body of the temporarily joined empty capsule in which the cap is held in the stepped portion of the cap accommodation pocket 213, And body are separated.

  The poorly separated capsule collection mechanism 29 is arranged downstream of the capsule direction regulating mechanism 30 in the rotation direction of the turntable 21 (in the direction of the arrow in the figure), and between the cap rotation member 212 and the body rotation member 215. A bar-shaped pusher 71 that is interposed and can be pushed upward is provided, and a collection container 72 supported above and below the cap rotating member 212 so as to be movable up and down. A plurality of elliptical holding holes 73 for sandwiching and holding the poorly separated capsules are formed at the bottom of the collection container 72 corresponding to each group of cap accommodation pockets 213.

  7 is a view showing a state in which the upper side including the cap rotating member 212 is removed from the plan view of the capsule filling device shown in FIG. The filling material supply mechanism 22 is arranged on the downstream side in the rotational direction of the turntable 21 with respect to the poorly separated capsule collection mechanism 29. As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the filling material hopper 221 and the filling material And a supply damper 222 for supplying the filler charged in the hopper 221 to the body rotating member 215 and dropping it into the body accommodating pocket 216. The filling hopper 221 includes a stirring blade 223 for stirring and flowing the charged filler by rotation. The filler supply mechanism 22 of the present embodiment can be used in any state such as powder, granule, liquid, etc., but the configuration can be appropriately changed according to the properties of the filler. For example, when the filling is liquid, a liquid dispenser serving as a filling supply means is interposed between the cap rotation member 212 and the body rotation member 215, and the position of the dispenser discharge port and each body storage pocket 216 is determined. A combination can be made to provide a liquid filling.

  The vibration applying mechanism 23 is disposed on the downstream side in the rotation direction of the turntable 21 with respect to the filling material supply mechanism 22, and as shown in FIGS. A vibration plate 231 is provided for imparting vibration to promote the drop into the body accommodation pocket 216. Further, side walls 217 and 218 are provided on the inner side and the outer side, respectively, in the region where the filling material stays on the body rotation member 215 with the body accommodation pocket 216 interposed therebetween.

  The filling quantitative mechanism 24 is disposed on the downstream side in the rotation direction of the turntable 21 with respect to the vibration applying mechanism 23, and includes a filling compression mechanism 241 and a metering mechanism 246, as shown in FIG. . As shown in FIGS. 7 and 10A, the filling compression mechanism 241 includes a holding plate 242 fixedly disposed on the upper side of the body rotating member 215 so as to face the group of body accommodation pockets 216, and a body housing. A body pusher 243 that pushes up the capsule body accommodated in the pocket 216 by the elastic force of the spring 244 is provided. The metering mechanism 246 is disposed on the downstream side in the rotation direction of the turntable 21 with respect to the packing compression mechanism 241, and is a scraping plate 247 that slides in the radial direction on the upper surface of the body rotation member 215 by the action of the air cylinder 248. And scraping off excess filler in the capsule body.

  The capsule coupling mechanism 25 is disposed on the downstream side in the rotation direction of the turntable 21 with respect to the filling quantitative mechanism 24 and includes an in-cap high temperature mechanism 2500 and a coupling mechanism 250.

  As shown in FIGS. 7 and 11, the in-cap high temperature mechanism 2500 is interposed between the cap rotation member 212 and the body rotation member 215, and is arranged so that the upper opening faces the group of cap accommodation pockets 213. A hot air casing 2501 is provided. The hot air casing 2501 includes an inlet 2502 for introducing hot air into the interior, and a rectifying plate 2504 having a plurality of injection ports 2503 formed corresponding to the cap accommodation pockets 213. 2502 is connected to a warm air generator (not shown) such as a warm air heater. The injection port 2503 is arranged so as to inject warm air toward the inside of each cap accommodated in the cap accommodation pocket 213 when the turntable 21 is stopped. The in-cap high temperature mechanism 2500 includes a temperature measuring device 2505 in which a temperature measuring unit is disposed in the vicinity of the injection port 2503 in the hot air casing 2501.

  The coupling mechanism 250 is disposed on the downstream side in the rotation direction of the turntable 21 with respect to the in-cap high temperature mechanism 2500, and as shown in FIG. 12, the cap restraint disposed close to the upper portion of the group of cap accommodation pockets 213. A plate 251, a pusher 255 that is disposed below the body rotation member 215 and pushes up the body accommodated in the group of body accommodation pockets 216, and is interposed between the cap rotation member 212 and the body rotation member 215 so as to be movable up and down. The conveyance member 257 is formed with a plurality of guide holes 256 for guiding the body pushed up by the pusher 255 to the cap accommodation pocket 213, respectively.

  The cleaning mechanism 26 is disposed downstream of the capsule coupling mechanism 25 with respect to the rotation direction of the turntable 21 with a discharge mechanism 40 described later interposed therebetween, and includes a cap rotation member 212 including a cap storage pocket 213 and a body storage pocket 216. And a suction device (not shown) for sucking residues and deposits on the body rotating member 215.

  As shown in FIG. 13, the discharge mechanism 40 includes a pusher 41 that is interposed between the cap rotating member 212 and the body rotating member 215 and pushes up the filled capsule stored in the cap receiving pocket 213, and the cap rotating member 212. A scraper 42 that is slidably disposed on the upper surface, an air cylinder 44 that drives the scraper 42 in the radial direction, and a chute 43 that discharges the capsule pushed radially outward by the scraper 42 to the outside. Yes.

  Next, operation | movement of the capsule filling apparatus 1 provided with the said structure is demonstrated. In FIG. 7, the turntable 21 includes a cap accommodation pocket 213 and a body accommodation pocket 216 each of which includes a capsule direction regulating mechanism 30, a poorly separated capsule collection mechanism 29, a filling material supply mechanism 22, a vibration applying mechanism 23, and a filling amount determination. The intermittent rotation drive is performed so that the mechanism 24, the capsule coupling mechanism 25, the discharge mechanism 40, and the cleaning mechanism 26 are sequentially stopped, and the process for filling the capsule with the filling material is sequentially performed while the turntable 21 is stopped. .

  First, referring to FIG. 4 and FIG. 7, in the capsule direction regulating mechanism 30, when a large number of empty capsules in which the cap and the body are temporarily coupled are introduced from the hopper 31, the capsule direction regulating mechanism 30 Each cap is erected in an upright posture so as to face upward, and is conveyed above the turntable 21 in an aligned state by the capsule transfer mechanism 35. The empty capsule is accommodated in a group of cap accommodation pockets 213 that are stopped at a position corresponding to the capsule guide member 27.

  In the capsule guide member 27, as shown in FIG. 5A, the movable plate 274 and the capsule guide base 271 come into contact with the cap rotating member 212 and the body rotating member 215, respectively, as the arm 275 is raised, and the cap accommodating pocket 213. A passage by the guide tube 273 and the large-diameter pocket hole 272 is formed between the body storage pocket 216 and the body storage pocket 216. The inside of the passage is sucked by the capsule separating vacuum shoe 28. As a result, the empty cap held in the cap accommodation pocket 213 is transported downward and accommodated in the body accommodation pocket 216 while the cap C is held. In this way, the process of separating the cap C and the body B that have been temporarily joined is performed. Thereafter, as the arm 275 is lowered, gaps are formed between the movable platen 274 and the cap rotating member 212, and between the capsule guide base 271 and the body rotating member 215. As shown in FIG. 21 becomes rotatable.

  The cap C and the body B housed in the cap housing pocket 213 and the body housing pocket 216 respectively stop at a position corresponding to the poorly separated capsule collection mechanism 29 due to the intermittent rotation of the turntable 21. As shown in FIG. 6A, the poorly separated capsule collection mechanism 29 raises the pusher 71 from below each cap accommodation pocket 213 to a predetermined position. Thus, as shown in FIG. 6B, the cap in the normal state is held in the cap housing pocket 213 as it is, while the capsule b with poor separation and the capsule c with poor posture (direction regulation) are pushed. It is pushed upward by the operation of 71 and is held in the holding hole 73 of the collection container 72. Thus, the process of removing the poorly separated capsule is completed.

  The cap C and the body B which have been checked for separation failure and posture (direction regulation) failure are stopped at a position corresponding to the filling material supply mechanism 22 due to intermittent rotation of the turntable 21. In the filling material supply mechanism 22, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the filling material charged into the filling material hopper 221 is supplied onto the body rotating member 215, and the filling material dropped into the body accommodation pocket 216 is the body. Housed inside. Thereafter, the filler remaining on the body rotation member 215 is urged to drop into the body accommodation pocket 216 by the vibration of the diaphragm 231 in the vibration applying mechanism 23. In this way, a filling process of filling the body is performed.

  The body B filled with the filling is stopped at a position corresponding to the filling quantitative mechanism 24 together with the cap C by the intermittent rotation of the turntable 21. In the filling compression mechanism 241 of the filling quantitative mechanism 24, as shown in FIGS. 10A and 10B, the body pusher 243 is mounted on the body while the upper side of the body accommodation pocket 216 is covered with the holding plate 242. By pushing up the body B in the accommodation pocket 216, the filler in the body B is compressed as shown in FIG. The compressive force acting on the filling can be appropriately set by adjusting the elastic force of the spring 244 in FIG. 10A and the amount of filling the body B can be controlled.

  The body B in which the contained filling is compressed is weighed to a constant amount by the weighing mechanism 246. That is, as the body B is pushed up from the body accommodation pocket 216 by the body pusher 243, the scraping plate 247 slides radially inward by the air cylinder 248 as shown in FIG. The filler is scraped off. In this way, the filling process of the filling in the body B is performed.

  The body B in which the filling is quantified stops together with the cap C at a position corresponding to the in-cap high temperature mechanism 2500 of the capsule coupling mechanism 25 by the intermittent rotation of the turntable 21. In the in-cap high temperature mechanism 2500 shown in FIG. 11, hot air introduced from the inlet 2502 is jetted upward through the jet outlet 2503, and the air in the cap C is replaced with hot air, whereby the cap The inside of C becomes higher than the ambient temperature. In this embodiment, the hot air introduced from the inlet 2502 is air, but a heated inert gas (for example, nitrogen) is introduced from the inlet 2502 and supplied into the cap C. Also good.

  The cap C whose interior is heated is stopped at a position corresponding to the connection mechanism 250 together with the body B by the intermittent rotation of the turntable 21. In the coupling mechanism 250 shown in FIG. 12, the conveying member 257 is close to the upper surface of the body B accommodated in the group of body accommodation pockets 216, and the upper part of the cap C accommodated in the group of cap accommodation pockets 213 is the cap restraint. The body B is in contact with the plate 251, is pushed up by the pusher 255, and is received in the guide hole 256 of the transport member 257. The conveying member 257 moves up to a position close to the lower surface of the cap rotating member 212 while holding the body B. In this state, when the body B is further pushed up by the pusher 255, the body B is completely coupled to the cap C, and the capsule coupling process is completed.

  The filled capsule in which the body B and the cap C are combined is stopped at a position corresponding to the discharge mechanism 40 due to the intermittent rotation of the turntable 21. As shown in FIG. 13, in the discharge mechanism 40, the filled capsule is pushed up by the pusher 41, transported in the horizontal direction by the operation of the scraper 42, and discharged from the chute 43 to the outside. In this way, the discharging process of the filled capsule is performed.

  A group of cap accommodation pockets 213 and body accommodation pockets 216 after the capsule is discharged are stopped at a position corresponding to the cleaning mechanism 26 by intermittent rotation of the turntable 21, and the cap rotation member 212 and the body rotation member 215 are connected to the cap rotation member 212 and the body rotation member 215. Residues and deposits are removed by suction. In this way, a group of empty capsules can be received again at a position near the capsule guide member 27 that is the next stop position of the turntable 21.

  According to the capsule filling device of the present embodiment, when the cap is coupled to the body filled with the filling supplied from the filling supply mechanism 22, first, the inside of the cap is heated up by the in-cap high temperature mechanism 2500. Since the body and the cap are coupled by the coupling mechanism 250, the capsule after the coupling becomes higher than the ambient temperature. Therefore, even if the internal pressure of the capsule is increased at the time of coupling, the internal pressure is reduced as the capsule is cooled, so that leakage of air at the coupling portion between the cap and the body can be suppressed. As a result, even if a band seal is formed on the capsule in a later step, it is possible to prevent the band seal from being bubbled or perforated.

  An example of a capsule sealing device for forming a band seal on a filled capsule is shown in FIG. The capsule sealing device 1000 is configured in the same manner as the capsule direction regulating mechanism 30 and aligns the direction of the capsules loaded in the hopper 1001, and the conveyance device 1200 conveys the capsules in which the directions are aligned in the horizontal direction. And a sealing device 1300 that performs band sealing on the capsule during the conveyance of the capsule by the conveying device 1200. The sealing device 1300 includes a sealing tank 1301 in which a sealing liquid is stored, a sealing roller 1302 whose lower part is immersed in the sealing liquid in the sealing tank 1301, and a motor 1303 that rotates the sealing roller 1302 in a direction opposite to the capsule conveying direction. The sealing liquid is applied to the entire circumference of the coupling portion in the capsule being conveyed by the rotation of the seal roller 1302, and then the applied sealing liquid is dried to form a band seal. Details of the configuration of the capsule sealing device 1000 are disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 61-68050.

  The increase in temperature in the cap by the in-cap temperature increase mechanism 2500 exhibits the above effect as long as the temperature in the cap is higher than the ambient temperature. However, if the temperature difference is too small, it is difficult to obtain a sufficient effect. On the other hand, if the temperature difference is too large, the capsule or the filler may be thermally deteriorated. It is preferable to appropriately set the temperature in the cap based on the temperature. For example, when the capsule is made of gelatin, the hot air temperature supplied into the capsule is preferably 80 ° C. or less, and when the capsule is made of HPMC (hydroxypropylmethylcellulose), the hot air temperature is 110 ° C. The following is preferable. As an example of specific numerical values, the difference between the atmospheric temperature and the warm air temperature supplied to the cap when the atmospheric temperature is room temperature (15 to 25 ° C.) is preferably 1 to 100 ° C., and 40 to 80 ° C. More preferred.

  As mentioned above, although one Embodiment of this invention was explained in full detail, the specific aspect of this invention is not limited to the said embodiment. For example, in the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 11, the in-cap high temperature mechanism 2500 is configured to supply hot air into the cap and replace it so as to quickly increase the temperature in the cap. However, for example, the cap may pass through the vicinity of the heater or in a high-temperature case, so that the air in the cap may be heated to increase the temperature.

  Further, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 13, the discharging mechanism 40 is configured so that the filled capsule is immediately discharged by the scraper 42. Instead of providing the scraper 42, as shown in FIG. Further, a cooling pipe (cooling mechanism) 45 may be provided, and the filled capsule pushed up by the pusher 41 may be discharged from the chute 43 via the cooling pipe 45.

  The filled capsule heated by the in-cap high temperature mechanism 2500 is naturally cooled to near the ambient temperature in the process of being conveyed in the cooling pipe 45. With such a configuration, the capsule discharged from the chute 43 is in a state in which the internal pressure is sufficiently reduced by cooling, so that problems of band seal bubbles and perforations can be more reliably prevented. A cooling air may be introduced into the cooling pipe 45 to forcibly cool the capsule.

  Further, in the capsule filling device of the present embodiment, for example, a capsule sealing device 1000 as shown in FIG. 14 is integrally provided so that filling of the capsule and formation of a band seal are continuously performed. You may comprise. Such a capsule filling device is configured, for example, by disposing the hopper 1001 of the direction regulating device 1100 in the capsule sealing device 1000 shown in FIG. 14 at the discharge destination of the discharge mechanism 40 in the capsule filling device 1 of the present embodiment. be able to. In this case, it is preferable to provide the cooling pipe 45 described above in the discharge mechanism 40.

  Further, the body rotating member 215 of the turntable 21 in the capsule filling device 1 of the present embodiment can be configured as shown in FIGS. 16 and 17, for example. FIG. 16 is a plan view showing the body rotating member 2151 in a state where the cap rotating member 212 of the turntable is removed, and FIG. In FIGS. 16 and 17, the same components as those in the present embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals.

  The body rotation member 2151 includes a plurality of body segments 2152 provided corresponding to the body accommodation pockets 216 of each group, and each body segment 2152 is attached to the tip of an arm 2153 that extends radially. The arm 2153 passes through a bush 2154 provided in a through hole in the side wall of the vertical shaft 211, and is connected to a cam follower 2156 whose base end side is engaged with a positive cam 2155 provided in a non-moving portion of the device. Along with the rotation of the body rotating member 2151, the body rotating member 2151 can be extended and contracted from the side wall of the vertical shaft 211.

  According to this configuration, in the state in which the body segment 2152 is positioned most radially outward by the extension of the arm 2153, that is, in the state in which the body housing pocket 216 is exposed to the outside of the cap rotating member 212, Since the filling material can be supplied to the housed body, the filling material can be easily and reliably supplied to the body. FIG. 17 shows a case where the liquid material dispenser 2157 is disposed above the body accommodation pocket 216 to supply a liquid filling material to the body accommodated in the body accommodation pocket 216. It can also be applied to powders and powders.

(Example)
Hereinafter, based on the Example and comparative example of this invention, this invention is demonstrated still in detail. However, the present invention is not limited to the following examples.

  When producing filled capsules using the capsule filling device 1 of the present embodiment, the extent to which defects were generated in the band seal was examined depending on whether hot air was supplied into the cap or not.

  The filling is MCT (product name: Kao Conconado MT, viscosity: 30 mPa · s (23 ° C)), which is a low-viscosity oil, and the capsule is a transparent gelatin capsule of size 1 (Shionogi Qualicaps Co., Ltd.) The company Posilok Lot # C453F9) was used. The capsule filling apparatus 1 was installed in a clean room, and the atmospheric temperature was maintained at 22 to 24 ° C. and the humidity was maintained at 39 to 41% RH. Moreover, the temperature of the warm air supplied into the cap was set to 62 to 72 ° C. as the temperature detected by the thermometer 2505. The capsule after the band seal was formed was left on the sheet overnight, and the presence or absence of defects such as bubbles or perforations generated in the band seal was determined from the presence or absence of spots due to leakage of the filler adhering to the sheet.

  As a result, when hot air was supplied into the cap, 0 capsules had defects in the band seal with respect to 1221 filled capsules. On the other hand, when hot air is not supplied into the cap, there are 226 capsules with defective band seals for 1132 filled capsules, and about 20% of capsules have defective band seals. It was seen.

  In this embodiment, the temperature difference between the atmospheric temperature and the hot air temperature is about 44 ° C. In this case, when the reduced pressure when the temperature in the capsule is lowered to the ambient temperature is calculated, it is about 14.7 kPa. In the present embodiment, it was possible to reliably prevent the occurrence of bubbles or the like in the band seal by such a pressure reducing effect.

It is a side view which shows schematic structure of the capsule filling apparatus which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a front view of the said capsule filling apparatus. It is a top view of the said capsule filling apparatus. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the said capsule filling apparatus. It is sectional drawing of the capsule guide member in the said capsule filling apparatus. It is sectional drawing of the poorly separated capsule collection | recovery mechanism in the said capsule filling apparatus. FIG. 4 is a plan view of the capsule filling device shown in FIG. 3, showing a state where an upper side including a cap rotating member is removed. It is sectional drawing of the filling material supply mechanism in the said capsule filling apparatus. It is sectional drawing of the vibration provision mechanism in the said capsule filling apparatus. It is sectional drawing of the filling compression mechanism in the filling fixed_quantity | quantitative_assay mechanism of the said capsule filling apparatus. It is sectional drawing of the high temperature mechanism in a cap in the capsule coupling mechanism of the said capsule filling apparatus. It is sectional drawing of the connection mechanism in the capsule coupling mechanism of the said capsule filling apparatus. It is sectional drawing of the discharge mechanism in the said capsule filling apparatus. It is a schematic block diagram which shows an example of the capsule sealing apparatus used in the post process of the said capsule filling apparatus. It is a schematic side view which shows the modification of the said capsule filling apparatus. It is a top view which shows the other modification of the said capsule filling apparatus in the state which removed the cap rotation member. It is principal part sectional drawing of the capsule filling apparatus shown in FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Capsule filling apparatus 20 Filling mechanism 21 Turntable 212 Cap rotation member 213 Cap accommodation pocket 215 Body rotation member 216 Body accommodation pocket 22 Fill material supply mechanism 23 Vibration imparting mechanism 24 Fill material quantitative mechanism 25 Capsule coupling mechanism 2500 High temperature mechanism in cap 2501 Hot air casing 2502 Inlet 2503 Injector 2503 Rectifier plate 2505 Temperature sensor 250 Connecting mechanism 30 Capsule direction regulating mechanism 40 Discharge mechanism 45 Cooling pipe 1000 Capsule sealing device

Claims (4)

An apparatus for filling a filling into a capsule composed of a cap and a body,
A filler supply means for supplying a filler into the body;
Capsule coupling means for coupling a cap to the body supplied with the filling;
A discharging means for discharging the capsule in which the body and the cap are combined,
The capsule coupling device includes an in-cap temperature raising means for raising the temperature inside the cap above the ambient temperature before coupling the cap to the body. The capsule filling device according to claim 1, wherein the in-cap high temperature means is configured to inject hot air into the cap. The capsule filling device according to claim 1, further comprising a capsule sealing unit that forms a band seal by applying a sealing liquid to a coupling portion of the capsule discharged by the discharging unit. A method of filling a filling into a capsule composed of a cap and a body,
A filling supply process for supplying the filling into the body;
A capsule coupling step of coupling a cap to the body supplied with the filling,
The capsule filling method includes a step of heating the inside of the cap above the ambient temperature before the cap is joined to the body.