JP2019167171A - Conveyance device and conveyance method - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a conveyance device and a conveyance method capable of conveying a plurality of granular materials while aligning them at a predetermined interval in a conveyance direction without requiring a complicated mechanism as in the prior art.SOLUTION: This conveyance device has a suction drum 30. The suction drum 30 has a plurality of suction holes 301 and a guide surface 332. The suction hole 301 sucks and holds a side surface of a tablet 9. The guide surface 332 contacts a front or back surface of the tablet 9. When a motor connected to the suction drum 30 is driven, the plurality of suction holes 301 and the tablets 9 sucked and held in the suction holes 301 move in a rotation direction around a rotation axis O. Thus, a plurality of tablets 9 can be conveyed while being aligned at a predetermined interval in the conveyance direction without requiring a complicated mechanism as in the prior art.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 6

Description

  The present invention relates to a transport apparatus and a transport method for transporting a granular material having a circular front and back surfaces and an annular side surface.

  Characters and codes for identifying the product are printed on the tablets as pharmaceuticals. Marks and illustrations may also be printed on tablet confectionery such as ramune. 2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, printing apparatuses that print images on such granular materials such as tablets and tablet confections using an inkjet method are known. In particular, in recent years, the types of tablets have been diversified due to the spread of generic drugs. For this reason, in order to make it easy to identify the tablet, a technique for printing a clear image on the tablet by an ink jet method has attracted attention.

  In this type of printing apparatus, a large number of tablets are poured into a carry-in hopper. The printing apparatus aligns the poured tablets one by one at a predetermined interval in the transport direction. Then, printing is performed on a plurality of tablets conveyed in an aligned state. Further, not only in a printing apparatus, but also in an inspection apparatus for inspecting tablets and a packaging apparatus for packaging tablets, it is necessary to convey a plurality of tablets while aligning them at a predetermined interval in the conveyance direction. .

  For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a mechanism for transporting a plurality of tablets while aligning them at a predetermined interval in the transport direction.

Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2005-247397

  The apparatus of Patent Document 1 includes a rotary drum (22) in which a plurality of receiving recesses (23) are formed, a supply chute (35) for supplying tablets to the rotary drum obliquely from above, and a tablet in the receiving recess (23). And a state correction means (39) for correcting the storage state of the device (see the summary of Patent Document 1, FIG. 1 and the like). Conventionally, in order to align a plurality of tablets at predetermined intervals in the transport direction, such a complicated mechanism has been required.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a transport apparatus and a transport method that can transport a plurality of granular materials while aligning them at a predetermined interval in the transport direction without requiring a complicated mechanism as in the prior art. To do.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, a first invention of the present application is a conveying device that conveys a granular material having a circular front surface and a back surface and an annular side surface, and an adsorption hole that adsorbs and holds the side surface of the granular material And a guide surface that contacts the front surface or the back surface of the granular material, and a moving mechanism that moves the suction hole in the transport direction.

  2nd invention of this application is a conveying apparatus of 1st invention, Comprising: The said suction hole contacts the two places of the said side surface of the said granular material, and hold | maintains, positioning the said granular material.

  3rd invention of this application is a conveying apparatus of 2nd invention, Comprising: The said suction hole is rectangular shape.

  4th invention of this application is a conveying apparatus of any one invention from 1st invention to 3rd invention, Comprising: The adsorption | suction drum which rotates centering on the axis | shaft extended horizontally is provided, The said outer periphery of the said adsorption | suction drum WHEREIN: A guide surface and a plurality of the suction holes are provided, and the plurality of suction holes open in the horizontal direction.

  5th invention of this application is a conveying apparatus of 4th invention, Comprising: The said adsorption | suction drum is a movable drum which rotates centering on the axis | shaft extended horizontally, and the ring member detachably attached to the outer peripheral surface of the said movable drum The ring member has the guide surface and the plurality of suction holes.

  6th invention of this application is a conveying apparatus as described in 4th invention or 5th invention, Comprising: On the upstream of a conveyance path | route from the said adsorption drum, The conveyance conveyor which conveys the said some granular material is mounted. Further, the plurality of suction holes adsorb and hold the granular materials transported by the transport conveyor one by one, thereby aligning the plurality of granular materials at a predetermined interval in the transport direction.

  7th invention of this application is a conveying apparatus of 6th invention, Comprising: The said granular material which fell from the said conveyance conveyor without being adsorbed | sucked to the said suction hole is collect | recovered, and it is upstream of a conveyance path | route from the said conveyance conveyor. A recovery mechanism is further provided.

  An eighth invention of the present application is the conveying device according to any one of the first to seventh inventions, wherein the granular material is a tablet.

  A ninth invention of the present application is a transport method for transporting a granular material having a circular surface and a back surface and an annular side surface, and a) a guide surface is brought into contact with the front surface or the back surface of the granular material, A step of adsorbing and holding the side surface of the granular material by an adsorption hole; and b) a step of moving the adsorption hole in a conveyance direction.

  According to the first to ninth inventions of the present application, the granular material is conveyed while adsorbing and holding the side surfaces of the granular material. Accordingly, a plurality of granular materials can be transported while being aligned at a predetermined interval in the transport direction without requiring a complicated mechanism as in the prior art.

  In particular, according to the second invention of the present application, the position of the granular material with respect to the suction holes can be easily maintained constant.

  In particular, according to the fifth invention of the present application, the shape, size, and interval of the suction holes can be easily changed by exchanging the ring member.

  In particular, according to the sixth invention of the present application, it is possible to align a plurality of tablets that are transported in a state where the spacing in the transport direction is non-uniform with a predetermined interval in the transport direction.

  In particular, according to the seventh invention of the present application, it is possible to increase the arrival rate of the granular material to the transport destination.

It is the side view and top view of a tablet. It is the figure which showed the structure of the tablet printing apparatus. It is a fragmentary perspective view of a suction conveyor. It is a bottom view of a head. It is the block diagram which showed the connection of a control part and each part in a tablet printing apparatus. It is sectional drawing of the vicinity of a suction drum. It is a fragmentary sectional view of a conveyance belt and a suction drum in the 1st delivery position. It is the figure which looked at the tablet adsorbed-held by an adsorption | suction hole from the upper direction in the 1st delivery position P1. It is the figure which showed the structure of the tablet printing apparatus which concerns on a modification.

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

<1. About granular materials>
First, “particulate matter” to be transported will be described. FIG. 1 is a side view and a plan view of four types of tablets 9 as an example of “granular material”. As shown in FIG. 1, the tablet 9 has a circular front surface 9a and a back surface 9b, and an annular side surface 9c. The front surface 9a and the back surface 9b of the tablet 9 may be flat surfaces, such as the upper left or lower left tablet 9 in FIG. 1, and are curved surfaces having bulges, such as the upper right or lower right tablet 9 in FIG. It may be. Further, like the lower left tablet 9 in FIG. 1, grooves such as a dividing line 9d may be formed on the front surface 9a or the back surface 9b. Further, the side surface 9c of the tablet 9 may be cylindrical like the upper left, upper right, or lower left tablet 9 in FIG. 1, or facing outward as the lower right tablet 9 in FIG. It may be a curved surface having a bulge.

  The tablet 9 may be an uncoated tablet (bare tablet), or may be a coated tablet such as a sugar-coated tablet or a film-coated tablet (FC tablet). The tablet 9 may be a capsule including a hard capsule and a soft capsule. Further, the “particulate matter” in the present invention is not limited to a tablet as a pharmaceutical product, and may be a tablet as a health food or a tablet confectionery such as ramune.

<2. Overall Configuration of Tablet Printing Device>
Then, the tablet printing apparatus 1 containing the conveying apparatus which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention is demonstrated. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of the tablet printing apparatus 1. The tablet printing apparatus 1 is an apparatus that prints an image such as a product name, a product code, a company name, and a logo mark on the front surface 9a or the back surface 9b of each tablet 9 while conveying a plurality of tablets 9 that are granular materials. is there. As shown in FIG. 2, the tablet printing apparatus 1 of this embodiment includes a feeder 10, a transport conveyor 20, a suction drum 30, a suction conveyor 40, a first camera 50, a printing unit 60, a second camera 70, a drying mechanism 80, An unloading mechanism 90 and a control unit 100 are provided.

  The feeder 10 is a mechanism for carrying a plurality of tablets 9 put into the tablet printing apparatus 1 into the transport conveyor 20. The feeder 10 includes, for example, a charging hopper, a rotary feeder, a vibration feeder, and the like. The plurality of tablets 9 put into the tablet printing apparatus 1 are conveyed to the conveyor 20 while being aligned in a plurality of rows by these mechanisms. Specifically, a plurality of rows of tablets 9 arranged in the transport direction are formed in the width direction (horizontal direction orthogonal to the transport direction). Then, the aligned tablets 9 are supplied to the conveyor 20. In FIG. 2, only one row of tablets 9 is shown.

  The conveyor 20 is a mechanism that horizontally transports the tablets 9 between the feeder 10 and the suction drum 30. The conveyor 20 includes a pair of pulleys 21 and an annular conveyor belt 22 that is spanned between the pair of pulleys 21. One of the pair of pulleys 21 is rotated by power obtained from the first motor M1. Thereby, the conveyance belt 22 rotates in the direction of the arrow in FIG. The other of the pair of pulleys 21 is driven to rotate as the conveyor belt 22 rotates.

  The plurality of tablets 9 supplied from the feeder 10 are placed on the upper surface of the transport belt 22 and move in the transport direction together with the transport belt 22. At this time, the tablets 9 are already aligned in a plurality of rows in the width direction by the feeder 10 described above, but the intervals in the transport direction of the tablets 9 in each row are not uniform. The plurality of tablets 9 are transported in close contact with each other in the transport direction or at a slight interval.

  The suction drum 30 is a mechanism for transferring the tablets 9 from the transport conveyor 20 to the suction conveyor 40. The suction drum 30 has a substantially cylindrical outer peripheral surface with a rotation axis O extending in the width direction as a center. Further, as indicated by a broken line in FIG. 2, the second motor M <b> 2 is connected to the suction drum 30. When the second motor M2 is driven, the suction drum 30 rotates about the rotation axis O. A plurality of suction holes 301 are provided at equal intervals in the circumferential direction on the outer periphery of the suction drum 30. Each suction hole 301 opens in the width direction.

  When the suction drum 30 rotates, the plurality of suction holes 301 have an annular shape including a first delivery position P1 close to the upper surface of the transport belt 22 and a second delivery position P2 close to the surface of the suction belt 42 described later. Move along the route. In the present embodiment, the first delivery position P <b> 1 is located directly below the rotation axis O of the suction drum 30. The second delivery position P2 is located at the same height as the rotation axis O of the suction drum 30. That is, the first delivery position P1 and the second delivery position P2 are 90 degrees apart from each other about the rotation axis O.

  As shown in FIG. 2, a first suction mechanism 302 is connected to the suction drum 30. When the first suction mechanism 302 is operated, gas is sucked out from the internal space S of the suction drum 30 located in the angle range between the first delivery position P1 and the second delivery position P2. Thereby, the said internal space S becomes a negative pressure lower than atmospheric pressure. The tablets 9 conveyed by the conveyor 20 and reaching the first delivery position P1 are adsorbed and held in the adsorption holes 301 of the adsorption drum 30 by this negative pressure. At this time, the suction hole 301 sucks and holds the side surface 9 c of the tablet 9. The plurality of tablets 9 are sucked and held one by one in each suction hole 301. Thereby, the interval in the conveyance direction of the plurality of tablets 9 becomes a predetermined interval corresponding to the interval between the suction holes 301.

  The tablet 9 is conveyed from the first delivery position P1 to the second delivery position P2 by the rotation of the suction drum 30 while being sucked and held in the suction holes 301. And if the tablet 9 passes 2nd delivery position P2, it will remove | deviate adsorption | suction of the tablet 9 by remove | deviating from the angle range of the internal space S maintained at said negative pressure. Thereby, the tablet 9 is delivered from the suction drum 30 to the suction conveyor 40.

  A more detailed configuration of the suction drum 30 will be described later.

  The suction conveyor 40 is a mechanism that transports the plurality of tablets 9 while sucking and holding them. The suction conveyor 40 includes a pair of pulleys 41 and an annular suction belt 42 that is spanned between the pair of pulleys 41. One of the pair of pulleys 41 is rotated by the power obtained from the third motor M3. As a result, the suction belt 42 rotates in the direction of the arrow in FIG. The other of the pair of pulleys 41 is driven to rotate as the suction belt 42 rotates.

  FIG. 3 is a partial perspective view of the suction conveyor 40. As shown in FIG. 3, a plurality of suction holes 421 are provided on the outer peripheral surface of the suction belt 42. The plurality of suction holes 421 are arranged at equal intervals in the transport direction and the width direction. As shown in FIG. 2, the suction conveyor 40 includes a second suction mechanism 43 that sucks out gas from the space inside the suction belt 42. When the second suction mechanism 43 is operated, the space inside the suction belt 42 becomes a negative pressure lower than the atmospheric pressure. The plurality of tablets 9 are sucked and held one by one in the suction holes 421 by the negative pressure. Each suction hole 421 sucks and holds the front surface 9 a or the back surface 9 b of the tablet 9.

  As described above, the plurality of tablets 9 are held on the surface of the suction belt 42 in a state of being aligned in the transport direction and the width direction. And the suction conveyor 40 conveys the some tablet 9 by rotating the suction belt 42. As shown in FIG. Below the four heads 61 described below, the plurality of tablets 9 are conveyed in the horizontal direction.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the suction conveyor 40 has a blow mechanism 44. The blow mechanism 44 is provided inside the suction belt 42 and at a position facing the carry-out chute 91 (described later) via the suction belt 42. The blow mechanism 44 blows gas only to the suction holes 421 facing the carry-out chute 91 among the plurality of suction holes 421 of the suction belt 42. If it does so, the said adsorption hole 421 will become a positive pressure higher than atmospheric pressure. Thereby, the adsorption of the tablet 9 in the suction hole 421 is released, and the tablet 9 is delivered from the suction belt 42 to the carry-out conveyor through the carry-out chute 91.

  Thus, in this embodiment, the feeder 10, the conveyance conveyor 20, the adsorption drum 30, and the adsorption conveyor 40 constitute a conveyance device that conveys the tablets 9.

  The first camera 50 is a processing unit for photographing the tablet 9 before printing. The first camera 50 is located on the downstream side of the conveyance path with respect to the second delivery position P2 described above and on the upstream side of the conveyance path with respect to the printing unit 60. For the first camera 50, for example, a line sensor in which imaging elements such as a CCD and a CMOS are arranged in the width direction is used. The first camera 50 images a plurality of tablets 9 conveyed by the suction belt 42. An image acquired by photographing is transmitted from the first camera 50 to the control unit 100 described later. The control unit 100 detects the presence / absence of the tablet 9 in each suction hole 421, the position of the tablet 9, and the posture of the tablet 9 based on the image obtained from the first camera 50. Further, the control unit 100 also performs an inspection of whether or not each tablet 9 has a defect such as a chip, based on the image obtained from the first camera 50.

  The printing unit 60 is a processing unit that performs printing on the front surface 9a or the back surface 9b of the tablet 9 conveyed by the suction belt 42 by an inkjet method. As shown in FIG. 2, the printing unit 60 of this embodiment has four heads 61. The four heads 61 are located above the suction belt 42 and are arranged in a line along the conveyance direction of the tablets 9. The four heads 61 eject ink droplets of different colors (for example, cyan, magenta, yellow, and black) toward the tablet 9. Then, a multicolor image is recorded on the front surface 9a or the back surface 9b of the tablet 9 by superimposing single color images formed by these colors. For the ink ejected from each head 61, edible ink manufactured from raw materials approved by the Japanese Pharmacopoeia, the Food Sanitation Law, or the like is used.

  FIG. 4 is a bottom view of one head 61. In FIG. 4, the suction belt 42 and the plurality of tablets 9 held by the suction belt 42 are shown by two-dot chain lines. As shown enlarged in FIG. 4, a plurality of nozzles 611 capable of ejecting ink droplets are provided on the lower surface of the head 61. In the present embodiment, a plurality of nozzles 611 are two-dimensionally arranged on the lower surface of the head 61 in the transport direction and the width direction. The nozzles 611 are arranged at different positions in the width direction. As described above, if the plurality of nozzles 611 are two-dimensionally arranged, the positions in the width direction of the nozzles 611 can be brought close to each other. However, the plurality of nozzles 611 may be arranged in a line along the width direction.

  As a method for ejecting ink droplets from the nozzle 611, for example, a so-called piezo method is used in which a voltage is applied to a piezoelectric element, which is a piezoelectric element, to deform and pressurize and eject ink in the nozzle 611. However, the ink droplet ejection method may be a so-called thermal method in which the ink in the nozzle 611 is ejected by heating and expanding by energizing the heater.

  The second camera 70 is a processing unit for photographing the tablet 9 after printing. The second camera 70 is located downstream of the printing unit 60 in the conveyance path and upstream of the drying mechanism 80 in the conveyance path. For the second camera 70, for example, a line sensor in which imaging elements such as a CCD and a CMOS are arranged in the width direction is used. The second camera 70 photographs the plurality of tablets 9 conveyed by the suction belt 42. An image acquired by shooting is transmitted from the second camera 70 to the control unit 100 described later. The control unit 100 inspects the quality of the image printed on the tablet 9 based on the image obtained from the second camera 70.

  The drying mechanism 80 is a mechanism that dries the ink attached to the tablet 9. The drying mechanism 80 is located downstream of the second camera 70 in the conveyance path and upstream of the conveyance chute 91 described later. For the drying mechanism 80, for example, a hot air supply mechanism that blows a heated gas (hot air) toward the tablets 9 conveyed by the adsorption belt 42 is used. The ink attached to the tablet 9 is dried by hot air and fixed on the front surface 9a or the back surface 9b of the tablet 9.

  The carry-out mechanism 90 is a mechanism for carrying out the plurality of tablets 9 from the suction conveyor 40 to the outside of the tablet printing apparatus 1. The carry-out mechanism 90 includes a carry-out chute 91 shown in FIG. 2 and a carry-out conveyor not shown. The carry-out chute 91 is located downstream of the drying mechanism 80 in the conveyance path. When the tablet 9 sucked in the suction hole 421 reaches a position facing the carry-out chute 91, the suction of the tablet 9 is released by the blow mechanism 44. Thereby, the tablet 9 falls from the suction hole 421 of the suction belt 42 to the upper surface of the carry-out conveyor through the carry-out chute 91. Then, the dropped tablet 9 is carried out of the tablet printing apparatus 1 by the carry-out conveyor.

  The control unit 100 is means for controlling the operation of each unit in the tablet printing apparatus 1. FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating the connection between the control unit 100 and each unit in the tablet printing apparatus 1. As conceptually shown in FIG. 5, the control unit 100 includes a computer having a processor 101 such as a CPU, a memory 102 such as a RAM, and a storage unit 103 such as a hard disk drive. A computer program CP for executing print processing is installed in the storage unit 103.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the control unit 100 includes the above-described feeder 10, the transfer conveyor 20 (including the first motor M <b> 1), the suction drum 30 (including the second motor M <b> 2 and the first suction mechanism 302), suction, and the like. Conveyor 40 (including third motor M3, second suction mechanism 43, and blow mechanism 44), first camera 50, printing unit 60 (including four heads 61), second camera 70, drying mechanism 80, and carry-out The mechanism 90 is connected to be communicable by wire or wireless. The control unit 100 temporarily reads the computer program CP and data stored in the storage unit 103 into the memory 102, and the processor 101 performs arithmetic processing based on the computer program CP, thereby controlling the operation of each unit described above. To do. Thereby, conveyance of the some tablet 9 and the printing process with respect to each tablet 9 advance.

<3. About adsorption drum>
Next, the detailed configuration of the suction drum 30 described above will be described. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the vicinity of the suction drum 30. FIG. 7 is a partial cross-sectional view of the conveyance belt 22 and the suction drum 30 at the first delivery position P1. FIG. 8 is a diagram of the tablet 9 sucked and held in the suction hole 301 at the first delivery position P1 as viewed from above (in a direction orthogonal to the transport direction and the width direction). As shown in FIGS. 6 to 8, the suction drum 30 of the present embodiment includes a fixed drum 31, a movable drum 32, and a ring member 33.

  The fixed drum 31 is a cylindrical or columnar drum disposed inside the movable drum 32. The fixed drum 31 is made of a metal such as stainless steel, for example. The fixed drum 31 is fixed to the frame of the tablet printing apparatus 1. For this reason, even when the second motor M2 is driven, the fixed drum 31 is kept non-rotating. A concave portion 312 is provided in a portion between the first delivery position P1 and the second delivery position P2 on the outer peripheral surface 311 of the fixed drum 31. When the first suction mechanism 302 shown in FIG. 2 is operated, the internal space S of the recess 312 becomes a negative pressure lower than the atmospheric pressure.

  The movable drum 32 is a cylindrical drum disposed outside the fixed drum 31. The movable drum 32 is made of a metal such as stainless steel, for example. The movable drum 32 is connected to the output shaft of the second motor M2 shown in FIG. For this reason, when the second motor M2 is driven, the movable drum 32 rotates around the rotation axis O. As shown in FIG. 7, the movable drum 32 is provided with a plurality of first through holes 321. Each first through hole 321 passes through the movable drum 32 in the radial direction.

  The ring member 33 is an annular member attached to the outer peripheral surface of the movable drum 32. The ring member 33 is formed of resin, for example. The ring member 33 is fixed so as not to rotate relative to the movable drum 32. For this reason, when the second motor M2 is driven, the ring member 33 as well as the movable drum 32 rotates about the rotation axis O. The ring member 33 is provided with a plurality of second through holes 331. The plurality of second through holes 331 are arranged at equal intervals in the circumferential direction around the rotation axis O. Each second through-hole 331 penetrates the ring member 33 in the radial direction. The radially inner end of the second through hole 331 communicates with the first through hole 321 of the movable drum 32.

  In the present embodiment, the end opening on the outer side in the radial direction of the second through hole 331 becomes the suction hole 301. As shown in FIGS. 6 to 8, each suction hole 301 opens in the width direction (horizontal direction). The shape of the suction hole 301 is, for example, a rectangular shape that is long in the transport direction. However, the shape of the suction hole 301 may be another shape such as an ellipse. As shown in FIG. 8, the tablet 9 transported to the first delivery position P1 by the transport conveyor 20 is caused by the negative pressure generated in the suction hole 301 from the internal space S through the first through hole 321 and the second through hole 331, as shown in FIG. The side surface 9 c of the tablet 9 is sucked into the suction hole 301 and sucked into the suction hole 301. As a result, the plurality of tablets 9 are aligned in the transport direction at intervals according to the positions of the suction holes 301. And by the drive of the 2nd motor M2 (movement mechanism), the tablet 9 hold | maintained at the suction hole 301 and the suction hole 301 moves to the 2nd delivery position P2 from the 1st delivery position P1.

  Thus, the suction drum 30 of this embodiment conveys the tablet 9 while adsorbing and holding the side surface 9c of the tablet 9. Thereby, a plurality of tablets 9 can be transported while being aligned at a predetermined interval in the transport direction without providing a complicated cutting mechanism. In particular, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 8, both end portions 301 e in the conveyance direction of the suction holes 301 are in contact with two circumferential directions on the side surface 9 c of the tablet 9. Thereby, the tablet 9 can be accurately positioned with respect to the suction hole 301. Specifically, each tablet 9 is held while being positioned such that the central portion of the suction hole 301 in the transport direction is aligned with the center of the tablet 9. As a result, the intervals in the transport direction of the plurality of tablets 9 can be accurately set to the predetermined intervals.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the ring member 33 has a guide surface 332. The guide surface 332 extends in a cylindrical shape centered on the rotation axis O at a position slightly close to the rotation axis O of the suction hole 301. When the tablet 9 is adsorbed in the adsorption hole 301, the front surface 9 a or the back surface 9 b of the tablet 9 comes into contact with the guide surface 332. Thereby, the front surface 9 a and the back surface 9 b of the tablet 9 are corrected to a posture along the guide surface 332. As a result, the postures of the plurality of tablets 9 conveyed by the suction drum 30 can be made uniform.

  Further, the suction drum 30 of the present embodiment has a ring member 33 separately from the fixed drum 31 and the movable drum 32. The ring member 33 can be attached to and detached from the movable drum 32. The ring member 33 is provided with a plurality of suction holes 301 and guide surfaces 332. For this reason, the several ring member 33 from which the magnitude | size of the adsorption hole 301, a shape, or the space | interval of the adjacent adsorption hole 301 differs is prepared, and these ring members 33 can be replaced and used according to a condition. In this way, even when the shape and size of the tablet 9 to be transported or the interval in the transport direction is changed, it can be easily handled.

<4. Modification>
Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment.

  FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of the tablet printing apparatus 1 according to a modification. The tablet printing apparatus 1 in FIG. 9 includes a collection mechanism 11 in addition to the configuration in FIG. 2 described above. The collection mechanism 11 collects the tablets 9 that have dropped from the end of the conveyance conveyor 20 on the downstream side in the conveyance direction, and re-supplys them to the feeder 10. If such a recovery mechanism 11 is provided, a part of the plurality of tablets 9 transported by the transport conveyor 20 falls from the downstream end of the transport conveyor 20 in the transport direction without being sucked by the suction holes 301. However, the tablet 9 can be returned to the transport path again. Therefore, the arrival rate of the tablet 9 to the second delivery position P2 can be increased.

  In the above-described embodiment, the suction drum 301 is provided with the suction hole 301 for sucking and holding the side surface 9 c of the tablet 9. However, another form may be sufficient as the mechanism which conveys the side surface 9c of the tablet 9, adsorb | sucking. For example, the suction hole 301 may be moved straight while the side surface 9c of the tablet 9 is sucked and held by the suction hole 301. Further, processing such as printing and inspection may be performed on the tablet 9 which is conveyed while being sucked and held in the suction hole 301.

  In the above embodiment, the printing unit 60 is provided with the four heads 61. However, the number of heads 61 included in the printing unit 60 may be 1 to 3, or 5 or more.

  Moreover, in said embodiment, the tablet printing apparatus 1 which prints an image with respect to the tablet 9 was demonstrated. However, the conveyance device of the present invention may be used in an inspection device that inspects the tablet 9 or a packaging device that wraps the tablet 9.

  In addition, the detailed configuration in the apparatus may be different from those in the present application. Moreover, you may combine suitably each element which appeared in said embodiment and modification in the range which does not produce inconsistency.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Tablet printer 9 Tablet 9a Front surface 9b Back surface 9c Side surface 9d Split line 10 Feeder 11 Collection mechanism 20 Conveyor 21 Pulley 22 Conveyor belt 30 Adsorption drum 31 Fixed drum 32 Movable drum 33 Ring member 40 Adsorption conveyor 41 Pulley 42 Adsorption belt 43 2nd Suction mechanism 44 Blow mechanism 50 First camera 60 Printing unit 61 Head 70 Second camera 80 Drying mechanism 90 Unloading mechanism 100 Control unit 301 Suction hole 302 First suction mechanism 312 Recess 321 First through hole 331 Second through hole 332 Guide surface M1 1st motor M2 2nd motor M3 3rd motor P1 1st delivery position P2 2nd delivery position O Rotating shaft S Internal space

Claims (9)

A conveying device for conveying a granular material having a circular front and back surfaces and an annular side surface,
An adsorption hole for adsorbing and holding the side surface of the granular material;
A guide surface in contact with the front surface or the back surface of the granular material;
A moving mechanism for moving the suction hole in the transport direction;
A conveying device comprising: It is a conveying apparatus of Claim 1, Comprising:
The said suction hole is a conveying apparatus which hold | maintains, positioning the said granular material by contacting two places of the said side surface of the said granular material. It is a conveyance apparatus of Claim 2, Comprising:
The suction device has a rectangular shape. It is a conveying apparatus of any one of Claim 1- Claim 3, Comprising:
A suction drum that rotates about a horizontally extending axis,
The guide surface and a plurality of the suction holes are provided on the outer peripheral surface of the suction drum,
The plurality of suction holes are each a conveying device that opens in a horizontal direction. It is a conveyance apparatus of Claim 4, Comprising:
The suction drum is
A movable drum that rotates about a horizontally extending axis;
A ring member detachably attached to the outer peripheral surface of the movable drum;
Have
The transport device, wherein the ring member includes the guide surface and the plurality of suction holes. It is a conveyance apparatus of Claim 4 or Claim 5, Comprising:
Further provided on the upstream side of the transport path from the suction drum, further comprising a transport conveyor that transports a plurality of the granular materials,
The plurality of suction holes are a transporting device that aligns the plurality of granular materials at predetermined intervals in the transport direction by sucking and holding the granular materials transported by the transport conveyor one by one. It is a conveyance apparatus of Claim 6, Comprising:
A transport apparatus further comprising a recovery mechanism that recovers the particulate matter that has fallen from the transport conveyor without being adsorbed by the suction hole, and re-feeds the particulate matter to the upstream side of the transport path. It is a conveying apparatus of any one of Claim 1- Claim 7, Comprising:
The conveying apparatus, wherein the granular material is a tablet. A conveying method for conveying a granular material having a circular front and back surfaces and an annular side surface,
a) a step of adsorbing and holding the side surface of the granular material by an adsorption hole while bringing a guide surface into contact with the front surface or the back surface of the granular material;
b) moving the suction hole in the transport direction;
Conveying method.

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