JP2547180B2 - Tablet printing machine - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a tablet printing machine, and more particularly to an improvement of a tablet printing machine for printing various symbols on the surface of a small article such as a tablet having a flat shape such as a small disc shape or a lens shape.

[0002]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION As a conventional tablet printing machine, FIGS.
The following are known. The conventional tablet printing machine shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 includes a tablet hopper 1 for storing a large number of flat tablets J and a tablet transport drum for transporting the tablets J supplied from the tablet hopper 1 to a printing unit 7. 2, a tablet storage pocket portion 3 provided on the outer peripheral surface of the tablet transfer drum 2 for storing the tablets J flatly one by one, and a through hole 31 formed in the tablet storage pocket 3 A suction mechanism 4 for sucking and accommodating the tablets J in the tablet accommodating pocket 3 and preventing the tablets J from falling out and misalignment, and an extra tablet excluding mechanism for excluding excess when two or more tablets J are accommodated in the tablet accommodating pocket 3. 5, a blowing mechanism 6 that blows air from the through hole 31 to release the suction of the tablet J and adjust the accommodation state when the tablet J is conveyed to the top S of the tablet conveying drum 2, and the tablet accommodation pocket 3 Housed in A printing section 7 for printing the symbol on the surface of the feed is the tablet J, and the discharge portion 8, the pressing roller 9, and is mainly comprised. The printing unit 7 includes a printing roller 71 and a design roller 7.
2 and the ink tank 73. Incidentally, FIG.
In, the arrow X indicates the suction by the suction mechanism 4, and the arrow Y indicates the blowing by the blowing mechanism 6.

As shown in FIG. 6, the extra tablet removing mechanism 5 has two bevel wheels 51.5 for each row of the transportation path of the tablets J.
2 is arranged in a floating state so that the conical surfaces 51A and 52A of the bevel wheels 51 and 52 face in the opposite direction. Further, the bevel wheels 51 and 52 have conical surfaces 51A and 52A which are the aforementioned tablet storage pockets 3. Of the tablets J housed in, the tablets J housed in a flat state, which is a proper posture, do not come into contact with each other,
In an improper state, that is, in the state of standing tablet J (referred to as standing tablet J ′ in this specification) or two or more tablets J · J ... stored in one tablet storage pocket 3. It is set to the contact height. With such a configuration, the extra tablet J in the tablet storage pocket 3 is repelled by either of the bevel wheels 51 and 52. In FIG. 5 and FIG. 6, J ″ is a flipped tablet.

Of the tablets J accommodated one by one in the tablet accommodation pocket 3 via the extra tablet elimination mechanism 5, a standing lock J '.
Is ejected from the through hole 31 by the action of the blowing mechanism 6 when it is transported to the top S of the tablet transport drum 2, the suction X is released and the position is adjusted, and proper printing is performed. It is accommodated in a flat state, which is the posture. This position adjustment is performed by the weight of the tablet J, the dynamic pressure of air, and the back pressure generated by the compressed air flowing between the tablet J and the through hole 31 creating a correct balance state. After the position adjustment is performed, the suction mechanism 4 sucks X again and is conveyed to the printing unit 7, where various symbols are printed on the surface of the tablet J. After the printing is completed, the tablet J is further conveyed, the suction X by the suction mechanism 4 is released by the discharge unit 8, is discharged by the blowing Y, and is stored in the storage unit (not shown).

[0005]

However, FIG. 5 and FIG.
In the conventional tablet printing machine shown in FIG. 2, contact between the bevel wheels 51 and 52 and the standing lock J ′ that constitute the extra tablet removing mechanism 5 causes
In some cases, the standing direction of the standing lock J ′ faces various directions, and the position adjustment by the blowout mechanism 6 does not work properly. If the standing tablet J ′ is conveyed to the printing unit 7 while remaining, there is a problem that the tablet J is damaged or printing failure occurs. Also, although extremely rare, the printing roller 71
The printed surface of may be damaged.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a tablet printing machine which can prevent the tablet from being damaged or the printing failure to occur and can perform the printing operation smoothly and at high speed.

[0007]

The present inventor has achieved the present invention as a result of extensive studies in order to achieve the above object.

That is, the tablet printing machine according to the present invention comprises a tablet hopper for accommodating a large number of flat tablets, a tablet transfer drum for transferring the tablets supplied from the tablet hopper to a printing section, and the tablet transfer device. A tablet accommodation pocket portion provided on the outer peripheral surface of the drum for accommodating the tablets in a flat state one by one, and a tablet is sucked through a through hole formed in the tablet accommodation pocket to drop and shift the position of the tablet. And a blowing mechanism that blows air from the through hole to release the suction of the tablet and adjusts the accommodation state, and a printing that prints a symbol on the surface of the tablet that is accommodated and conveyed in the tablet accommodation pocket. And a aligning mechanism having the following configuration for aligning the standing direction of the standing lock in the transport direction by contacting only the standing lock of the tablets stored in the tablet storage pocket. Machine And a falling mechanism having the following configuration for tilting the standing lock into a flat state in the tablet storage pocket by contacting only the standing lock whose standing direction is aligned with each other. The position is on the downstream side of the aligning mechanism and on the operating portion of the blowing mechanism. [Arrangement of Alignment Mechanism] At least two bevel wheels are arranged in a floating state by aligning the conical surfaces of the bevel wheels in the same direction for each row of the tablet conveying path, and the arrangement position of the bevel wheels is The aligning mechanism having a configuration in which the conical surface of the tablet is in a height position so as to come into contact with a tablet other than the proper posture among the tablets stored in the tablet storing pocket. [Structure of Overturning Mechanism] At least one guide member is arranged per row of the tablet conveying path so as to cross the conveying path obliquely, and the position of the guide member is set to the inside of the tablets accommodated in the tablet accommodating pocket. , A tipping mechanism configured to be in a height position that comes into contact with the tablet in a position other than the proper posture.

In a preferred embodiment of the tablet printing machine according to the present invention, the suction by the suction mechanism is weaker than the suction of other portions in the second wagon portion of the aligning mechanism, and the aligning mechanism. The height of the wagon is attached via a position adjusting mechanism that can be adjusted according to the diameter of the tablet to be printed, and the position of the wagon of the aligning mechanism is set on the outer peripheral surface of the tablet conveying drum. It was attached via a position adjusting mechanism adjustable according to the position of the storage pocket, and the height of the guide member of the tipping mechanism was attached via a position adjusting mechanism adjustable according to the diameter of the tablet to be printed. That is, the guide member of the falling mechanism is attached via a position adjusting mechanism capable of adjusting an attaching angle.

[0010]

According to the present invention, among the tablets stored in the tablet storage pockets, the standing tablets are first brought into contact with the two bevels of the aligning mechanism so that the standing directions are all aligned in the carrying direction. . Next, the standing locks aligned in the carrying direction are carried by being brought into contact with the guide member of the overturning mechanism to be tilted in the direction orthogonal to the carrying direction. At this time, the tablet is not only sucked by the blowing mechanism but also adjusted in position by blowing air from the through hole in the tablet storage pocket, and is stored in a flat state that is an appropriate printing posture. . Then, while being sucked again into the tablet storage pocket by the suction mechanism, it is conveyed to the printing unit, and various symbols are printed on the surface of the tablet.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic explanatory view of a tablet printing machine according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is an explanatory plan view of an aligning mechanism and a tipping mechanism, and FIG.
2 is a schematic explanatory view showing a state seen from the direction III in FIG. 2, and FIG. 4 is a schematic explanatory view showing a state seen from the direction IV in FIG.

1 to 4, the tablet printing machine of the present invention conveys a tablet hopper 1 containing a large number of flat tablets J and a tablet J supplied from the tablet hopper 1 to a printing unit 7. Tablet conveying drum 2 and the tablet conveying drum 2
The tablet J is accommodated in the tablet accommodating pocket 3 through the tablet accommodating pocket portion 3 provided on the outer peripheral surface of the tablet accommodating container 1 for accommodating the tablets J in a flat state, and the through hole 31 formed in the tablet accommodating pocket 3. The suction mechanism 4 that holds the tablet J in the tablet transport drum 2 and prevents the tablet J from falling off and misalignment, and the tablet J is located at the top S of the tablet transport drum 2.
Is blown out from the through hole 31 when the tablet J is conveyed to the device, the blowing mechanism 6 for releasing the suction of the tablet J and adjusting the accommodation state, and a symbol on the surface of the tablet J accommodated in the tablet accommodation pocket 3 and conveyed. Is mainly composed of a printing unit 7 for printing, a tablet discharge unit 8, a pressing roller 9, an aligning mechanism 10 having the following configuration, and a falling mechanism 11 having the following configuration. Further, the suction mechanism 4 has a gauge 41 and a pressure control valve 42 for specifically controlling the pressure of the suction X. Further, the printing unit 7 includes a printing roller 71, a design roller 72, and an ink tank 73.
1, 3, and 4, the arrow X indicates suction by the suction mechanism 4, and the arrow Y indicates blowing by the blowing mechanism 6.

As shown in FIG. 2, the aligning mechanism 10 includes a tablet J.
At least two bevel cars 101 per line
102 is the conical surface 101A of the wheel and sheave 101.
・ Tablets 102A are arranged in the same direction in a floating state, and the positions of the sheaves 101, 102 are arranged in conical surfaces 101A, 102A in the tablet housing pocket 3 on the conical surfaces 101A, 102A as shown in FIG. Among J, it is configured as a height position where it contacts a tablet J other than the proper posture, specifically, a standing tablet J ′ and the like. In FIG. 3, reference numeral 100 denotes a bevel wheel 101.10.
2 is a support shaft, 103 is a collar for adjusting the distance between the sheaves in the direction orthogonal to the transport direction, 104 is a collar with a fixing screw, 105 is a knob of the support shaft 100, and 106 is the support shaft 1
00 support table.

To adjust the distance between the sheaves 101 with respect to the distance between the tablet storage pockets 3 (the direction orthogonal to the carrying direction), loosen the collar 104 with fixing screws and move the sheaves 101 as necessary. To do. Wagon 10
If there is a gap between the tablet storage pockets 3 but the overall displacement is with respect to the tablet storage pocket 3, the knob 105 is turned to move the support shaft 100 itself.
The spacing between the bevel wheels 102 is adjusted in the same manner.

Regarding the height adjustment of the aligning mechanism 10, the position of the support shaft 100 is adjusted by changing the height of the support base 106 with respect to the main body of the tablet printing machine.
Turn 05 to move the support shaft 100 itself, and
The same effect can be obtained by changing the contact position of the ‘′ with the conical surfaces 101A and 102A.

Tablets J transported by the tablet transport drum 2
Of these, the standing lock J ′ is not only oriented in various directions when it is stored in the tablet storage pocket 3, but also its standing angle is various.
By passing through, the two carts 101, 102 of the aligning mechanism 10 come into contact with each other during transportation, so that the standing directions are all aligned in the transport direction (see FIGS. 2 and 3).

Further, the two sheave wheels 101 of the aligning mechanism 10 are arranged.
It is preferable to make the suction X by the suction mechanism 4 in the second sheave 102 portion of 102 weaker than the suction X of the other portions because the effect of aligning the standing directions becomes higher.

Further, the balance wheel 101.1 of the aligning mechanism 10
02 also has a function of repelling extra tablets J when two or more tablets are stored in one tablet storage pocket 3.

As shown in FIG. 2, the overturning mechanism 11 includes a tablet J.
At least one guide member 11 per line
0 is arranged so as to diagonally cross the transport path, and the position of the guide member 110 is in contact with the standing lock J'of the tablets J stored in the tablet storage pocket 3 as shown in FIG. It is configured as a height position. 11 in FIG.
Reference numeral 1 denotes an angle adjusting unit that adjusts an angle across the conveying path. By rotating a nut of the angle adjusting unit 111, the angle of the guide member 110 with respect to the conveying path is changed to a desired angle. The traversing angle is preferably shallow when the transportation speed is high and deep when the transportation speed is low.

Further, in FIG. 1, reference numeral 112 is a height adjusting portion for adjusting the height of the guide member 110 according to the diameter of the tablet J. The height adjusting portion 112 includes a bolt 114 with a lock nut attached to the support member 113 and the lock nut 1.
And a bolt 114 with a lock nut.
The guide member 110 can be changed to a desired height by turning the lock nut 115 and / or the lock nut 115. A preferable height is a height at which the tablet J housed in a flat state having a proper posture does not come into contact with the standing tablet J ′ in an inappropriate state.

The standing lock J'aligned in the carrying direction by passing through the aligning mechanism 10 is brought into contact with the guide member 110 of the overturning mechanism 11 to be tilted in the direction orthogonal to the carrying direction (Fig. 2 and FIG. 4). This time,
The position of the tablet J is adjusted not only by releasing the suction X by the blowout mechanism 6 but also by blowing air Y from the through hole 31 in the tablet storage pocket 3 so that the tablet J is in a flat state of a proper printing posture. Be accommodated. The position adjustment by blowing air will be described. When the tablet J (and the standing tablet J ′) is transported to the top S of the tablet transport drum 2, air is blown from the through hole 31 by the action of the blowing mechanism 6.
The back pressure generated by the weight of the tablet J, the dynamic pressure of air, and the compressed air flowing between the tablet J and the through hole 31 creates a correct balance state, and the position is adjusted.

Then, the suction mechanism 4 conveys the tablets X to the tablet accommodating pocket 3 again to the printing section 7, and various symbols are printed on the surfaces of the tablets J. After the printing is completed, the tablet J is further conveyed, the suction X by the suction mechanism 4 is released by the discharge unit 8, is discharged by the blowing Y, and is stored in the storage unit (not shown). An optical inspection machine for inspecting the tablets J may be arranged in the preceding step of the discharging section 8.

The aligning mechanism 10 and the overturning mechanism 1 described above
When all the tablets J are stored in the tablet storage pocket 3 in a proper printing posture by passing through 1, the printing unit 7
It is possible to reliably perform printing by. Therefore, tablet J
Since it is possible to prevent damage and defective printing, it is possible to perform printing work smoothly and at high speed.

In the tablet printing apparatus of the present invention having the above-mentioned structure, the tablet conveying drum 2 in which the shape and size of the tablet storage pocket 3 are changed according to the shape and size of the tablet J to be printed.
By changing to, it is possible to correspond to various things. Further, the number of tablet storage pockets 3 on the outer peripheral surface of the tablet conveying drum 2 can be variously set. Further, the number of transport rows in the lateral direction (direction orthogonal to the transport direction) is not limited to the four rows in this embodiment, but can be changed to various numbers. Furthermore, in this embodiment, the four tablet storage pockets 3 in the horizontal direction are aligned, but the present invention is not limited to this, and they may be arranged obliquely or may be alternately displaced. However, they may be arranged randomly.

[0025]

[Experimental example]

Experimental Example 1 Diameter 9.0 mmφ, edge angle 16 mmR, tablet surface band thickness of 1.5 mm or more, diameter 7.0 mmφ, edge angle 11 mmR, tablet surface band thickness of 1.5 mm or more, diameter 5.5 mmφ, Edge angle 7 mm
R, three types of tablets each having a tablet surface band thickness of 1.5 mm or more were measured by the tablet printing machine shown in FIGS.
When printing 0,000 tablets, no tablet breakage or printing failure occurred.

Comparative Example 1 Printing was performed in the same manner as in Experimental Example 1 except that the tablet printing machine shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 was used instead of the tablet printing machine.
In all three types, 200 standing tablets, 350 printing defects, and several tablets were damaged.

[0027]

According to the present invention, with respect to the standing lock of the tablets stored in the tablet storage pocket, first, the standing mechanism of the standing lock is aligned in the conveying direction by the aligning mechanism, and then the falling mechanism is used. By tilting the tablet in the direction orthogonal to the transport direction to store all the tablets in the tablet storage pocket in the proper printing posture, it is possible to reliably perform printing by the printing unit, so that the tablets are not damaged or damaged. It is possible to prevent printing defects. Therefore, it is possible to provide a tablet printing machine that can perform printing work smoothly and at high speed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic explanatory view of a tablet printing machine according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory plan view of an alignment mechanism and a tipping mechanism.

FIG. 3 is a schematic explanatory view showing a state seen from the direction III in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a schematic explanatory view showing a state viewed from the IV direction in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a schematic explanatory view of a conventional tablet printing machine.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory plan view of an extra tablet removing mechanism of a conventional tablet printing machine.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Tablet Hopper 2 Tablet Conveying Drum 3 Tablet Storage Pocket 31 Through Hole 4 Suction Mechanism 5 Extra Tablet Exclusion Mechanism 51/52 Crawler 51 / 52A Cone Surface 6 Blowout Mechanism 7 Printing Section 71 Printing Roller 72 Design Roller 73 Ink Tank 8 Discharging Section 9 Presser roller 10 Alignment mechanism 100 Support shaft 101/102 Wagon wheel 101A / 102A Conical surface 103 Collar 104 Collar with fixing screw 105 Collar 105 Knob 106 Support stand 11 Falling mechanism 110 Guide member 111 Angle adjustment unit 112 Height adjustment unit 113 Support member 114 Bolt with lock nut 115 Lock nut J Tablet J'Standing lock J "Flip tablet X Suction Y Blow up S Top

Claims (6)

(57) [Claims] 1. A tablet hopper for accommodating a large number of flat tablets, a tablet transport drum for transporting tablets supplied from the tablet hopper to a printing section, and a tablet transport drum provided on an outer peripheral surface of the tablet transport drum. A tablet accommodating pocket portion for accommodating tablets one by one in a flat state, a suction mechanism for sucking the tablets through a through hole formed in the tablet accommodating pocket to prevent the tablets from falling out and being displaced, and the through hole. A tablet comprising a blowing mechanism that blows air from the tablet to release suction of the tablet and adjusts the accommodation state, and a printing unit that prints a symbol on the surface of the tablet that is accommodated and conveyed in the tablet accommodation pocket. In the printing machine, among the tablets stored in the tablet storage pocket,
An aligning mechanism having the following configuration that aligns the standing direction of the standing lock with the conveying direction by contacting only the standing lock, and only the standing lock whose standing direction is aligned by the aligning mechanism is brought into contact with the standing lock in the tablet storage pocket. A tilting mechanism having the following configuration for tilting to a flat state, wherein a disposition position of the tipping mechanism in a tablet transport path is a downstream side of the aligning mechanism and an operating portion of the blowing mechanism. Characteristic tablet printing machine. [Arrangement of Alignment Mechanism] At least two bevel wheels are arranged in a floating state by aligning the conical surfaces of the bevel wheels in the same direction for each row of the tablet conveying path, and the arrangement position of the bevel wheels is set to the bevel wheel. The aligning mechanism having a configuration in which the conical surface of the tablet is in a height position so as to come into contact with a tablet other than the proper posture among the tablets stored in the tablet storing pocket. [Structure of Overturning Mechanism] At least one guide member is arranged per row of the tablet conveying path so as to cross the conveying path obliquely, and the position of the guide member is set to the inside of the tablets accommodated in the tablet accommodating pocket. , A tipping mechanism configured to be in a height position that comes into contact with the tablet in a position other than the proper posture. 2. The tablet printing machine according to claim 1, wherein the suction by the suction mechanism is made weaker in the second bevel wheel portion of the aligning mechanism than in other portions. 3. The tablet printing machine according to claim 1, wherein the height of the wagon of the aligning mechanism is attached via a position adjusting mechanism that can be adjusted according to the diameter of the tablet to be printed. . 4. The position of the wagon of the aligning mechanism is attached via a position adjusting mechanism that is adjustable according to the position of a tablet storage pocket provided on the outer peripheral surface of the tablet conveying drum. Item 4. The tablet printing machine according to any one of Items 1 to 3. 5. The height of the guide member of the tipping mechanism is attached via a position adjusting mechanism that can be adjusted according to the diameter of the tablet to be printed. Tablet printing machine. 6. The tablet printing machine according to claim 1, wherein the guide member of the overturning mechanism is attached via a position adjusting mechanism capable of adjusting an attaching angle.