JP2014142278A - X-ray inspection device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an X-ray inspection device that specifies a position of a defect product in a process unit, and enables only the defect product to be eliminated in a latter stage even when a packing device conveying a work in a consecutive form having a product arranged to an inspection device generates only a basic signal having each of the predetermined number of products as the process unit.SOLUTION: An X-ray inspection device 7 comprises: X-ray inspection means 8; determination means 9 for outputting a determination signal S4 from an insection result; a basic signal S1 that corresponds to a process unit of an inspected body; determination timing clock generation means 12 for outputting a determination timing signal S2 on th basis of the number of rows of the product in the process unit; and synchronous determination output means 13 for outputting a division determination signal S3 indicative of a position of an NG product on the basis of the determination signal, the basic signal, and the determination timing signal. Only a row of a packing section including the NG product from the process unit including the NG product can be cut off and eliminated.

Description

  The present invention irradiates X-rays on a continuous object to be inspected in which a product is packaged at a predetermined interval and is sent in the longitudinal direction, and detects X-rays transmitted through the product to inspect for the presence or absence of foreign matter. The present invention relates to an X-ray inspection apparatus. The present invention inspects each product individually in such a continuous form inspected object even when the product is to be handled as a processing unit for each predetermined number of products arranged in the longitudinal direction. The present invention relates to an improvement in an X-ray inspection apparatus that can specify the position of a defective product in each processing unit of an object to be inspected, and perform operations such as removal of defective products in the subsequent stage economically and efficiently.

  Patent Document 1 below discloses an invention of a vertical bag-filling and packaging machine that manufactures a single packaged product or a continuous bag body in which a predetermined number of bag bodies are connected by perforations or the like. According to this packaging machine, in a packaging means, a strip-shaped film fed from a film roll is formed into a cylindrical film, filled with products such as tablets and capsules, and sealed for each product. Manufacturing. Then, a perforation or cutting is performed at an appropriate position by a cutting means to produce a single package or a continuous bag.

  Further, Patent Document 2 discloses a defective product for detecting defective products of a detected object in an automatic packaging line provided with a packaging machine for wrapping the objects to be detected such as tablets, capsules, confectionery, etc. arranged in multiple rows on a film. An invention of a detection device is disclosed. This defective product detection apparatus includes an image sensor in which light receiving elements are arranged in a direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction of the object to be detected. When the output signal of the image sensor and a reference signal are compared, a detection signal is detected. Is output.

JP 07-285510 A Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 63-18568

  The present inventor has a defective product detection device as disclosed in Patent Document 2 between a packaging means and a cutting means of a bag making and filling packaging machine (referred to as a packaging machine) as disclosed in Patent Document 1. The idea of incorporating and using (referred to as an inspection device) later was obtained, and various technical studies considered necessary to realize this have been repeated. According to such a packaging machine with an inspection device, the products stored in the respective packaging bodies of the continuous packaging bags continuously conveyed from the packaging means are inspected, and the detected defective products are stored. It is considered that it is necessary to identify the package body that is present from the continuous bag body, and to cut only the package body with a cutting means and eliminate it.

  However, normally, a cutting signal for operating the cutter of the cutting means is output from the packaging means side to the cutting means side, and this cutting signal is sufficient to control the operation of the cutter. . Therefore, it is normal that no other signal is exchanged between the packaging machine and the cutting machine, and the packaging machine often does not include a circuit or the like for outputting other control signals to the outside. Under these circumstances, as described above, when an inspection device is to be incorporated between the packaging machine and the cutting machine, a control signal for controlling the inspection device is supplied from the packaging machine side to the cutting machine side. In many cases, it is only possible to use the cutting signal.

  There are two main reasons for this. The first reason is that the signal necessary for operating the cutter for cutting the continuous bag is sufficient by the cutting signal supplied from the packaging machine, so there is no need to output other control signals to the packaging machine in the first place. In fact, the packaging machine is not provided with a circuit for outputting a signal other than the cutting signal. The second reason is that a general-purpose inspection device that can be incorporated into as many target packaging machines as possible can be realized and utilized between manufacturers of different packaging machines or between series of devices manufactured by the same manufacturer. To achieve this, the cutting signal supplied from the packaging machine is output with a common timing specification regardless of the model or manufacturer, and this is used as a control signal for general-purpose inspection equipment. Is convenient.

  However, the cutting signal supplied from such a packaging machine is not a single packaging body constituting the continuous packaging body, but a unit of a length to be cut as a finished product, that is, a predetermined number of packaging bodies. For each processing unit, it is output as a signal at a time interval determined from the size of the processing unit and the conveyance speed. And since the packaging machine does not output a signal having a length other than this, the continuous package after the inspection cannot be cut at an interval shorter than the processing unit.

  The present invention has been made in view of the various problems described above, and in a continuous form inspected object, a predetermined number of products arranged in the longitudinal direction are handled as processing units. Even if only a signal of a length corresponding to this processing unit is output, each product is inspected individually, and the position of the defective product in each processing unit in the inspected object is specified, An object of the present invention is to provide an X-ray inspection apparatus capable of economically and efficiently performing operations such as removal of defective products at a later stage in a unit smaller than a processing unit.

The X-ray inspection apparatus 7 according to claim 1 is:
The product is inspected while the product is packaged and a plurality of packaging parts 2 arranged at predetermined intervals in the longitudinal direction are transported in the longitudinal direction of the inspected object 1 in a continuous form in which a predetermined number of processing units 3 are processed. In the X-ray inspection apparatus 7 performed by X-rays,
X-ray inspection means 8 for irradiating the product with X-rays and detecting transmitted X-rays and outputting inspection results;
A determination unit 9 that determines whether the product is acceptable or not from an inspection result output by the X-ray inspection unit 8 and outputs a determination signal S4;
A determination timing signal generating means 12 for outputting a determination timing signal S2 corresponding to the packaging portion 2 of the device under test 1 based on the basic signal S1 corresponding to the processing unit 3 of the device under test 1;
Division indicating the position in the longitudinal direction of the product determined to pass or fail based on the determination signal S4 from the determination means 9, the basic signal S1, and the determination timing signal S2 from the determination timing signal generation means 12 Synchronization determination output means 13 for outputting a determination signal S3;
It is characterized by comprising.

The X-ray inspection apparatus 7 according to claim 2 is the X-ray inspection apparatus 7 according to claim 1,
The inspection result output by the X-ray inspection unit 8 is shown as a transmission image X, the product that the determination unit 9 has determined to be rejected is explicitly shown in the transmission image X, and the processing in the inspection object 1 is performed. The display apparatus further includes display means for indicating the division of unit 3 in the transmission image X by a virtual line.

  According to the X-ray inspection apparatus recited in claim 1, the inspection object is a continuous object to be inspected in which a plurality of packaging parts in which products are packaged are arranged at predetermined intervals in the longitudinal direction. The packaging parts arranged in the longitudinal direction are handled as a processing unit every predetermined number. The X-ray inspection apparatus inspects the product by the X-ray inspection means while transporting the object to be inspected in the longitudinal direction, and outputs the inspection result. From the inspection result, the determination means determines whether the product is acceptable or not. Output a signal. On the other hand, the determination timing signal generation means obtains a basic signal corresponding to the processing unit of the object to be inspected from the outside, and based on this basic signal, the individual packaging parts shorter than the processing unit consisting of a predetermined number of packaging parts. A corresponding determination timing signal is output. The synchronization determination output means is a division determination indicating the longitudinal position of the product determined to pass or fail based on the determination signal from the determination means, the basic signal, and the determination timing signal from the determination timing signal generation means. Output a signal. For example, the basic signal is output from a packaging machine arranged at the front stage of the X-ray inspection apparatus and is given to a cutting machine arranged at the rear stage of the X-ray inspection apparatus to cut the object to be inspected. A disconnect signal can be used. Based on the division determination signal supplied from the X-ray inspection apparatus, the cutting machine does not cut and remove the entire processing unit including the product determined to be defective from the inspected object, but is determined to be defective. From the processing unit including the product, only the packaging part including the product determined to be defective can be cut and removed from the object to be inspected.

  The X-ray inspection apparatus described in claim 2 includes display means. The display means displays a transmission image of the inspection object obtained by the X-ray inspection means. In addition, in this transmission image, the rejected product is clearly displayed so that the product judged to be rejected can be identified so that the rejected product can be distinguished from others, and in addition, the processing unit classification in the inspected object Is displayed as a virtual line. As a result, in each processing unit of the inspected object in the continuous form, it is obvious at which position in which processing unit there is a defective product. In addition, if there is a transmission image of the inspected object in which the processing units are divided in this way and the defective product is specified, the inspected object actually cut after the defective product is cut by the subsequent cutting machine Can be associated with defective products in the transmission image, and the validity of the inspection and processing method or the result can be verified and examined later. Further, by leaving such a transmission image as data for storing the inspection result, it can be used as a management record.

It is a figure which shows the top view of a to-be-inspected object, or the transmission image of a to-be-inspected object by planar view, Comprising: While showing the position of the product determined to be inferior goods by test | inspection, two rows of packaging parts in to-be-inspected It is the figure which displayed the division | segmentation of the processing unit which consists of, and the division | segmentation in the case of cut-and-removing 1 row of packaging parts in which the inferior goods are contained. It is a block diagram which shows the function of the manufacturing system of the PTP packaging tablet which is embodiment of this invention. It is a timing chart which shows the signal etc. which are produced | generated by each part at the time of the action | operation of the manufacturing system of the PTP packaging tablet which is embodiment of this invention.

An X-ray inspection apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
The X-ray inspection apparatus according to the present embodiment is provided below a conveyance means such as a belt conveyor for conveying an object to be inspected, an X-ray irradiation means as an X-ray inspection means provided above the conveyance means, and a conveyance means. X-ray detection means as the X-ray inspection means is provided, and the X-ray irradiation means irradiates the X-ray with the X-ray irradiation means while transporting the inspection object, and X-rays transmitted through the inspection object X By detecting with the line detection means, foreign matter or the like in the inspection object can be detected.

  FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a transmission image of the inspection object 1 to be inspected by the X-ray inspection apparatus or the inspection object 1 by the X-ray inspection apparatus. This inspection object 1 is a continuous object to be inspected in which packaging parts 2 in which products are packaged are arranged at predetermined intervals along the longitudinal direction, and specifically, PTP packaging (press through package) tablets. is there. PTP packaging is a packaging with a structure in which a continuous band-shaped plastic plate is formed with regular packaging portions 2 that are dented into tablets, and tablets are placed in each packaging portion 2 and sealed with an aluminum film or the like. is there. The PTP-packed tablet shown in FIG. 1 is conveyed along a direction parallel to the longitudinal direction. Five packaging parts 2 are arranged in the conveying direction, that is, the width direction orthogonal to the longitudinal direction, and this constitutes one row of the packaging parts 2. Each row parallel to the width direction of the wrapping portion 2 is arranged at a predetermined interval along the longitudinal direction, and a plurality of rows of wrapping portions 2 (two rows in the illustrated example) are arranged side by side. The processing unit is 3 for packaged tablets. Here, the processing unit 3 is a division when a PTP-packed tablet, which is a continuous strip-like object 1 to be cut, is cut along a cutting line parallel to the width direction, or a perforation parallel to the width direction is inserted so as to be cut Unit. In this example, since the product is a tablet, the necessary or appropriate number (10 in 2 rows in the illustrated example) is included in the processing unit 3 in consideration of the use as a medicine and safety. .

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram showing a PTP-packed tablet manufacturing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. First, the configuration of the PTP-packed tablet manufacturing system will be described.
In this PTP-packed tablet manufacturing system, an X-ray inspection apparatus is disposed between a tablet packaging machine 5 that is a product and a cutting machine that cuts or perforates continuous strip-shaped PTP-packed tablets. The X-ray inspection apparatus inspects the PTP packaged tablet as the inspection object 1 sent out from the packaging machine 5 with X-rays to determine the presence or absence of foreign matter, and sends a determination signal including the position of the defective product to the subsequent cutting machine. The defective product can be cut and removed.

  In FIG. 2, the packaging machine 5 puts a tablet as a product supplied from a preceding supply device (not shown) into a recess formed in a continuous strip-shaped packaging material, and seals it with an aluminum film or the like. 1 as a PTP-packed tablet. The packaging machine 5 outputs a master clock S1 as a basic signal. The master clock S1 is output as a signal having a time interval determined by the size of the processing unit 3 and the conveyance speed of the object 1 to be inspected. In this embodiment, the cutting machine 6 does not cut the object to be inspected based on only the master clock S1. Although details will be described later, in this embodiment, the master clock S1 is divided into short clocks corresponding to one row of the packaging unit 2 and used for inspection and cutting.

  In FIG. 2, the cutting machine 6 is an apparatus that cuts the inspection object 1 sent out from the packaging machine 5 and inspected by the X-ray inspection apparatus 7. According to this cutting machine 6, the packaging part 2 containing defective products is cut and removed for each row, and the perforations are formed so that other normal parts can be divided for each processing unit 3. be able to.

  As schematically shown by the solid line arrow L1 in FIG. 2, the PTP packaged tablet that is the device under test 1 is conveyed from the packaging machine 5 to the cutting machine 6 by a conveying means (not shown). The X-ray inspection apparatus 7 includes X-ray inspection means 8 (indicated as “inspection means” in the drawing) for inspecting the inspection object 1 conveyed from the packaging machine 5 toward the cutting machine 6 with X-rays. Although not shown, the X-ray inspection means 8 includes an X-ray irradiation means for irradiating the product of the inspection object 1 with X-rays and an X-ray detection means for detecting X-rays transmitted through the inspection object 1. Yes. In FIG. 2, the X-ray inspection means 8 inspects whether or not foreign matter is mixed in the product of the inspected object 1 being conveyed, as schematically shown by the X-ray irradiation inspection by the broken line arrow L2. As a result of the inspection, a transmission image X of the inspection object 1 can be output.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the transmission image X output from the X-ray inspection unit 8 is input to the determination unit 9. The determination means 9 can analyze the transmission image X to determine whether the product contained in each packaging portion 2 of the device under test 1 is mixed with foreign matter, and output a determination signal S4.

Although not shown in FIG. 2, the determination unit 9 includes a display unit that displays the transmission image X output from the X-ray inspection unit 8. This display means can explicitly show on the transparent image X the product determined by the determining means 9 as being rejected together with the transparent image X. Specifically, for example, in the plan view of the transmission image X of the inspection object 1 shown in FIG. 1, the rejected product can be displayed in black that can be distinguished from others. In addition, the display means includes a division of processing units 3 in the inspected object 1 (two rows and ten pieces in FIG. 1) and a division of packaging unit 2 including rejected products (one row and five pieces in FIG. 1) . And one of them is a defective product) can be indicated by a virtual line in the transmission image X. In the example of FIG. 1, this virtual line is indicated by a broken line, but a solid line of a high primary color may be used as a virtual line for classification so that it can be clearly distinguished from the transparent image X of the background. .

  As shown in FIG. 2, the X-ray inspection apparatus 7 includes a column number setting unit 11 for setting the number of columns parallel to the width direction of the packaging unit 2 included in one processing unit 3.

  The number-of-rows setting unit 11 detects, for example, the boundary of the packaging unit 2 arranged in the longitudinal direction of the inspection object 1 from the density of the transmission image output from the inspection unit 8, and the boundary information indicates the inspection object 1. The number of columns of the packaging sections 2 arranged in the longitudinal direction in one processing unit 3 (the number of boundaries included in one signal of the master clock S1 described later) is acquired, and the number of columns is output as setting information Z. In the example of the PTP packaged tablet as the object to be inspected 1 shown in FIG. 1, the setting information Z is 2 which is the number of columns of the packaging unit 2 included in one processing unit 3.

  Note that the boundary detection is not limited to the method using the transmission image as described above, but includes various types of sensors such as a photoelectric sensor that detects an object, an electromagnetic sensor that detects electromagnetic fluctuation due to the detected object, and an ultrasonic sensor. You may perform using a sensor as a boundary detection means. Moreover, the boundary detection of the packaging part 2 as described above may be omitted, and the setting information may be directly input by the user using an input unit such as a numeric keypad.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the X-ray inspection apparatus 7 generates a determination timing signal so that the product pass / fail determination in the inspected object 1 can be performed not for each processing unit 3 (two columns) but for each column. As a means, a determination timing clock generation means 12 is provided. The determination timing clock generation means 12 is a reference for measuring the determination timing of the device under test 1 based on the master clock S1 supplied from the packaging machine 5 and the setting information Z supplied from the column number setting means 11. A determination timing clock S2 is generated and output as a determination timing signal.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the X-ray inspection apparatus 7 includes synchronization determination output means 13 that performs pass / fail determination for each column of products in the inspection object 1 and outputs the determination information. The synchronization determination output means 13 is accepted by the determination means 9 based on the determination signal S4 from the determination means 9, the master clock S1 from the packaging machine 5, and the determination timing clock S2 from the determination timing clock generation means 12. It is possible to output a division determination signal S3 indicating the position in the longitudinal direction of the device under test 1 that has been determined. This division determination signal S3 is sent to the cutting machine 6. The cutting machine 6 uses the division determination signal S3 to cut only the row of the packaging unit 2 including the products determined to be defective from the processing units 3 including the products determined to be defective. It can be removed from the device under test 1.

  FIG. 3 is a timing chart showing signals and the like generated at each part during the operation of the above-described PTP packaged tablet manufacturing system. Hereinafter, the operation of the PTP-packed tablet manufacturing system will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3.

  The inspection object 1 is conveyed along the longitudinal direction. The X-ray inspection means 8 inspects the product and outputs a transmission image X as a result of the inspection, and the determination means 9 determines pass / fail of the product from the transmission image X and outputs a determination signal S4. In the present embodiment, it is assumed that an NG signal is output when the product fails.

  On the other hand, the determination timing clock generation means 12 acquires the master clock S1 corresponding to the processing unit 3 of the inspection object 1 from the packaging machine 5, and the packaging arranged in the longitudinal direction in the processing unit 3 of the inspection object 1. The setting information Z that is the number of columns of the unit 2 is acquired from the column number setting means 11. In the example illustrated in FIG. 3, the setting information Z is set to 3 assuming that the number of columns of the packaging unit 2 included in one processing unit 3 of the inspection object 1 is 3, which is different from that in FIG. 1. The determination timing clock generator 12 generates and outputs a determination timing clock S2 using the master clock S1 and the set number of three. The determination timing clock S <b> 2 is shorter than the master clock S <b> 1 corresponding to one processing unit 3 of the inspected object 1 including the three rows of packaging parts 2, and corresponds to the individual packaging part 2 rows included in one processing unit 3. doing.

  The synchronization determination output means 13 is determined to be NG in the determination signal S4 from the determination means 9 based on the master clock S1 from the packaging machine 5 and the determination timing clock S2 from the determination timing clock generation means 12. The division determination as to which of the determination timing clocks S2 corresponds to the timing of the master clock S1 is performed. In FIG. 3, the “determination result” schematically shows the content of the division determination, where “x” indicates the detection timing of the product (column) determined to be NG. Based on the determination result, the synchronization determination output means 13 outputs a division determination signal S3 indicating the position in the longitudinal direction of the product determined as NG, that is, the position of the column including the NG product.

  The division determination signal S3 output from the synchronization determination output means 13 is sent to the subsequent cutting machine 6. Based on the division determination signal S3, the cutting machine 6 cuts only the row of the packaging unit 2 including the product determined to be NG from the processing unit 3 including the product determined to be NG. Can be removed.

  Further, according to the X-ray inspection apparatus 7, the transmission image X of the inspection object 1 obtained by the X-ray inspection unit 8 can be displayed on the display unit. Further, the transmission image X of the display means can be displayed in such a manner that it can be distinguished from others so that the product determined to be NG can be identified. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, only an NG product (indicated by reference numeral NG) is displayed in a different color (in FIG. 1, it is shown in black for convenience of illustration). Furthermore, in the transmission image X of the display means, the division of the processing unit 3 and the division of the column of the NG product in the inspection object 1 can be displayed with virtual lines. As a result, in each processing unit 3 of the inspected object 1 in a continuous form, it is obvious on the screen of the display means at which position in which processing unit 3 the NG product is present.

  In this way, if there is a transmission image X of the inspection object 1 in which the processing unit 3 is divided and the NG product is specified, the inspection object actually cut after the NG product is cut by the subsequent cutting machine 6 The body 1 and the NG product in the transmission image X can be associated with each other, and it is possible to verify and examine the method of inspection and processing, the validity of the result, and the like afterwards. Furthermore, by leaving such a transmission image X as data for storing the inspection result, it can be used as a management record.

  As described above, since a predetermined number of products are arranged in the longitudinal direction in a continuous form like a PTP-packed tablet, the processing unit 3 is used, and the length corresponding to the processing unit 3 is determined from the packaging machine 5 that handles this. Even when only the master clock S1 is output, according to the X-ray inspection apparatus 7 of the present embodiment, each product is inspected individually, and in each processing unit 3 in the inspection object 1 It is possible to specify the position of the NG product and perform the operation such as the removal of the NG product in the subsequent stage in units of columns smaller than the processing unit 3, thereby improving the economy and efficiency of the production line.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Test object which takes PTP packaging tablet as an example 2 ... Packaging part 3 ... Processing unit 5 ... Packaging machine 6 ... Cutting machine 7 ... X-ray inspection device 8 ... X-ray inspection means 9 ... Determination means 11 ... Setting means Number-of-columns setting means 12 ... Determination timing clock generation means as determination timing signal generation means 13 ... Synchronization determination output means S1 ... Master clock as a basic signal S2 ... Clock for determination timing as a determination timing signal S3 ... Division determination signal S4 ... Judgment signal X ... Transmission image as inspection result Z ... Setting information

Claims (2)

A plurality of wrapping parts (2), which wrap the product and are arranged at predetermined intervals in the longitudinal direction, convey in a longitudinal direction the inspection object (1) in a continuous form in which a predetermined number of processing units (3) are used as processing units (3). However, in the X-ray inspection apparatus (7) for inspecting the product with X-rays,
X-ray inspection means (8) for irradiating the product with X-rays and detecting transmitted X-rays and outputting inspection results;
A determination means (9) for determining a pass / fail of the product from an inspection result output by the X-ray inspection means and outputting a determination signal (S4);
A determination timing signal generating means (12) for outputting a determination timing signal (S2) corresponding to the packaging portion of the object to be inspected based on a basic signal (S1) corresponding to the processing unit of the object to be inspected;
A division determination signal (S3) indicating a position in the longitudinal direction of the product that has been determined to pass or fail based on the determination signal from the determination unit, the basic signal, and the determination timing signal from the determination timing signal generation unit. Synchronization determination output means (13) for outputting
An X-ray inspection apparatus (7) comprising: The inspection result output by the X-ray inspection means (8) is shown as a transmission image (X), the product that the determination means (9) has determined to be rejected is explicitly shown in the transmission image, and the inspection object The X-ray examination apparatus (7) according to claim 1, further comprising display means for indicating the section of the processing unit (3) in the body (1) by a virtual line in the transmission image.

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