JP3417108B2 - Syringe manufacturing equipment - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for manufacturing a syringe (syringe), and more particularly to various treatments such as filling and stoppering while the syringe barrel is housed in a carrier for transport and transported. The present invention relates to a syringe manufacturing apparatus that manufactures a syringe by performing the operation.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a filling device or the like for performing capping after filling a container such as a bottle with a liquid, each container is individually conveyed for the purpose of stably conveying the container and accurately positioning it. It is generally practiced to carry out various processing steps while being accommodated in a carrier for transportation and transported in a filling device.

For example, in the "article processing method and apparatus" described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-293431, "The bottle transport line 16 includes a bottle fixing device 3 (carrier) holding a bottle 1 and a bottle aligning and supplying device 11". From filling machine 13
It conveys to the cartoning machine 15 via the carousel transporting device 13A of No. 1 and the carousel transporting device 14A of the cap mounting machine 14, and returns the bottle fixing device 3 from which the bottle 1 is taken out by the cartoning machine 15 to the bottle aligning and supplying machine 11. In this way, the bottle fixing device 3 is circulated and conveyed ”. Like the device in this publication,
When filling or capping an ordinary bottle, it is not necessary to invert the bottle in the middle of a plurality of processing steps, so once the bottle is housed in the carrier, it is taken out after the completion of various processing steps. It is designed to be carried by one carrier up to.

Further, in an apparatus for manufacturing a syringe (syringe), a syringe (in this specification, a state before the syringe is completed by filling and stoppering is called a syringe, and a syringe after completion is called a syringe. Since it has a shape that cannot stand by itself, it must always be housed and transported in a carrier unless gripped by a handling mechanism or the like. Here, the shape of an injection cylinder that has been generally used conventionally will be briefly described with reference to FIG. The syringe barrel 1 has a long cylindrical body portion 1a.
And an injection needle attachment port 1b having a thin cylindrical opening provided at its tip (the left end in the figure), and a large diameter opening 1c into which a plunger rod is inserted when it is later used as a syringe (syringe). And a flange 1d is formed around the opening 1c on the plunger rod insertion side.

In the case of filling the inside of the syringe barrel 1 having the above-mentioned shape with a drug solution, first, a cap is capped on the injection needle mounting port 1b to seal the mounting port 1b, and then an opening at the upper side of the plunger rod is inserted. The filling is performed by inserting the filling nozzle from the portion 1c. After that, the plunger rod insertion side opening 1
The inside of the injection cylinder 1 is completely sealed by plugging the gasket from c. Therefore, the above-mentioned filling process of the drug solution must be carried out in an upright state with the injection needle mounting opening 1b facing downward and the plunger rod insertion side opening 1c facing upward (in this specification, the injection needle mounting opening is designated). A state in which the 1b side is directed downward is called an upright state, and a state in which the injection needle mounting port 1b is directed upward is called an inverted state). Therefore, conventionally, all the steps such as filling and stoppering have been performed while the syringe barrel 1 is being erected while being transported in the syringe manufacturing apparatus.

The syringe barrel 1 is filled with a drug solution,
After the gasket is plugged from the opening 1C side, the plunger rod is fitted to the opening 1c side to complete the syringe. When this syringe is used as a syringe, an injection needle is attached to the injection needle attachment port 1b, and the plunger rod is pushed in to inject the drug solution filled inside into the human body or the like.

[0007]

In order to allow the plunger rod to slide smoothly on the inner surface of the syringe when the plunger rod is pushed in as described above, conventionally, silicon is applied to the inner surface of the syringe barrel 1. I have to. If this silicon coating step is performed in an upright state in which the injection needle mounting port 1b faces downward as described above, the silicon applied to the inner surface may drip and flow into the thin injection needle mounting port 1b and become clogged. there were.

The present invention has been made in order to eliminate the above-mentioned drawbacks, and the injection needle mounting port is directed upward so that there is no possibility that the silicone coated on the inner surface of the injection cylinder will be clogged in the injection needle mounting port. It is an object of the present invention to provide a syringe manufacturing apparatus in which a silicon coating step is performed in an inverted state, and then the silicon coating step is inverted to an upright state, and then a filling step and the like are performed.

In particular, two types of carriers, namely, an upright carrier for accommodating and transporting an injection cylinder in an inverted state and an upright carrier for accommodating and transporting an injection cylinder in an upright state, are used while transporting an injection cylinder. A syringe manufacturing apparatus that manufactures a syringe by performing steps.

Further, the two types of carriers for upright and inverted can be circulated and transported by independent transport paths, respectively, so that these carriers can be used efficiently. An object of the present invention is to provide a syringe manufacturing apparatus in which the entire syringe manufacturing apparatus including the syringe barrel transport system is arranged in a compact space and each processing step can be efficiently performed.

[0011]

A syringe manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention includes an insertion means for inserting a syringe into a first carrier with an injection needle attachment port facing upward, and an injection needle. Processing means for processing the syringe barrel housed in the first carrier with the mounting port facing upward, withdrawing means for withdrawing the syringe barrel from the first carrier, and emptying the syringe barrel withdrawn. A first return conveyor for returning the lost first carrier to the inserting means into the first carrier;
Reversing means for reversing the injection cylinder pulled out from the first carrier and directing the injection needle mounting port downward, and reversing injection
Stoppering means for stoppering the cap on the injection needle mounting port of the shooting cylinder,
Insertion means for inserting the injection cylinder into the second carrier with the injection needle mounting port with the cap facing downward, and treatment of the injection cylinder accommodated in the second carrier. And a second return conveyor for returning the empty second carrier after the syringe is removed to the insertion means for inserting the syringe into the second carrier. It is a thing.

[0012]

In the syringe manufacturing apparatus described above, after a process such as a silicon coating process which is performed in an inverted state with the injection needle mounting port facing upward, the syringe is inserted into the first carrier with the posture maintained and other processes are performed during transportation. When the syringe is removed from the first carrier after the treatment, the empty first carrier is
It is returned to the carrier inserting means again by the return conveyor and efficiently circulated for use. In addition, the syringe barrel taken out from the first carrier is turned upside down so as to be in an upright state with the injection needle attachment port facing downward, and while being inserted and transported in the second carrier, each processing step is performed. Then, it is taken out from the second carrier and sent to the next step. On the other hand, the second carrier that has been emptied by taking out the injection cylinder is returned to the carrier inserting means again by the second return conveyor, and is efficiently circulated and used.

[0013]

The present invention will be described below with reference to the illustrated embodiments.
FIG. 1 is a plan view of a syringe manufacturing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 shows an example of an injection cylinder. In the syringe manufacturing apparatus, the injection cylinder is sequentially filled with a drug solution and stoppered. Then, the syringe is manufactured. As described above, the injection barrel 1 includes a long cylindrical body 1a,
An injection needle mounting port 1b having a thin cylindrical opening provided at its tip (left end in the figure), and a syringe (syringe) later
And a large-diameter opening 1c into which the plunger rod is inserted when used as, and a flange 1d is formed around the opening 1c on the plunger rod insertion side. The injection cylinder 1 is carried into the main manufacturing apparatus by the supply conveyor 4 while being supported by the tray 2, and a predetermined number of the injection cylinders 1 are taken out by the taking-out means 6 equipped with a robot hand or the like. Sent within 8.
It should be noted that the posture of the syringe 1 at the time of washing is not limited to the sideways lying state, and may be an upside down state or the like.

The syringe barrel 1 washed in the washing machine 8 is subsequently sent to the silicon coating device 10. In this silicon coating device 10, it is gripped by a handling device (not shown) to be in an inverted state (a state in which the injection needle mounting port 1b faces upward), and first, it is moved above the draining air nozzle. Here, when the syringe barrel 1 is lowered or the air nozzle is raised, the water draining nozzle is inserted through the large diameter opening 1c on the side of the flange 1d facing downward, and air is blown into the interior, which is performed in the previous step. The residual water is removed by washing. Next, it is moved to the upper side of the silicon injection nozzle in the inverted state, and silicon is injected from the silicon injection nozzle inserted in the inside in the same manner and applied to the inner wall surface. After that, it is further moved to above the air nozzle for blowout, air is blown inside from the nozzle similarly inserted in the injection cylinder 1, and the silicone applied to the inner wall surface by the above-mentioned silicon injection nozzle is injected into the injection cylinder. 1 is thinly stretched to be uniform over the entire inner surface. The syringe barrel 1 is designed to be handed over from the handling device on the introduction side to the handling device on the discharge side while the silicon coating is being performed. It is discharged onto the discharge side conveyor 12 running on the side of the silicon coating device by the discharge side handling device. In this way, since the syringe barrel 1 is set upside down to perform the silicone coating step, the silicone sprayed on the inner surface of the syringe barrel 1 flows,
There is no possibility of blocking the injection needle mounting port 1b. The silicon coating device 10 is not limited to the one having the above configuration, and may have another configuration.

On the discharge side conveyor 12, the syringe barrel 1
Upside down (injection needle mounting port 1b facing upward)
The first carrier 14 for inverted transport, which is housed and held in, is continuously transported, and each syringe barrel 1 is inserted into the carrier 14 for inverted transport. 3 and 4
Shows an example of the first carrier 14 for inverted conveyance. The first carrier 14 is made of metal,
It has a cylindrical shape having an inner diameter slightly larger than the outer diameter of the flange 1d, and a cross-shaped support portion 14a is formed on the bottom surface. The shape of the first carrier 14 is not limited to the one shown in the figure, and may be any shape as long as the syringe 1 can be accommodated in an inverted state and stably transported.

The syringe barrel 1 housed in the first carrier 14 for inverted conveyance passes through the conveyer 16 arranged so as to be orthogonal to the downstream end of the discharge side conveyer 12, and the carrier 14 together with the tunnel type dry sterilization. It is carried into the machine 18.
The syringe barrel 1 that has been dried and sterilized by passing through the tunnel is sent to the extraction reversing device 20 while being accommodated in the first carrier 14 for inverted transportation. In this sampling reversing device 20, the syringe barrel 1 is provided by a grip mechanism or the like not shown.
Is grasped and pulled out from the first carrier 14 for inverted conveyance, and inverted so that it is in an upright state, that is, the injection needle mounting port 1b faces downward and the flange 1d side opening 1c faces upward. After being taken out from the inside of the first carrier 14, the syringe barrel 1 which has been turned upside down and is in an upright state with the opening 1c on the flange 1d side facing upward is delivered to the rotary transport means 22.
On the other hand, the first carrier 1 in which the syringe barrel 1 has been removed and emptied
4 is returned to the conveyor 12 running on the discharge side of the silicon coating device 10 via the return conveyor 23, and the injection cylinder 1 discharged from the silicon coating device 10 is inserted again.

The syringe barrel 1, which has been erected by the extracting / reversing device 20 and delivered to the rotary transport means 22, is rotatably transported in a suspended state with the lower surface side of the flange 1d being supported. It is delivered from the rotary transport means 22 to the next rotary luer cap stopper 24. In the luer cap stopper 24, the luer cap supplied from the luer cap feeder 26 is capped into the injection needle attachment port 1b facing downward. Then, it is sent to the rotary top cap capping device 30 via the next rotary transport means 28. In this top cap stopper device 30, the top cap supplied from the top cap feeder 32 is stoppered from the outside of the luer cap of the injection needle attachment port 1b.

While being supported in an upright state and being rotationally conveyed,
The syringe barrel 1 in which the luer cap and the top cap are sequentially plugged into the injection needle mounting port 1b facing downward and the mounting port 1b is sealed is the rotary second carrier via the next rotary transport means 34. It is delivered to the insertion device 36. In this insertion device 36 for the second carrier, each injection cylinder 1 is supported on the upper side thereof, and at a corresponding position below each of these injection cylinders 1, a second carrier for erecting transfer is provided from the carrier transfer conveyor 38. A carrier 40 (see FIGS. 5 and 6) is supplied, and the respective injection cylinders 1 are lowered during rotation and inserted into the second carrier 40 for upright conveyance. FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 show an example of the second carrier 40 for upright conveyance, which has a bottomed cylindrical shape made of resin or the like, and is large in size to accommodate the cylindrical portion 1 a of the main body of the injection cylinder 1. It has a diameter hole 40a and a small diameter hole 40b that is continuously provided below the diameter hole 40a and accommodates the injection needle mounting port 1b.
The configuration of the second carrier 40 is not limited to the one shown in the figure, and may be any as long as the syringe 1 can be accommodated in an upright state and stably transported.

The injection cylinder 1 inserted in the second carrier 40 for upright transportation is placed on the transportation conveyor 42 and sent to the filling machine 44, and the filling nozzle of this filling machine 44 is located on the upper flange 1d side. It is inserted through the opening 1c and the inside is filled with the liquid medicine. The filled injection barrel 1 is then sent to the gasket plugging machine 48 via the rotary conveying means 46, and the gasket supplied from the gasket feeder 50 is located on the upper flange 1d side by the gasket plugging machine 48. It is driven into the opening 1c. In this gasket stopper 48, a thin pin is inserted between the gasket and the inner wall of the syringe barrel 1 so as to release the air in the syringe barrel 1 when the gasket is driven, so that a slight gap is provided. It has become.

The syringe barrel 1 having a gasket plugged in the opening 1c is further evacuated by a vacuum capping machine 5 via a conveyor 52.
It is loaded into In the vacuum stopper 54, first,
The inside of the syringe barrel 1 is evacuated by making the inside of the vacuum chamber into a weak vacuum state, extruding the above gasket once by the pressure difference between the inside of the syringe barrel 1 and the inside of the vacuum chamber, and then removing the inside of the vacuum chamber. After making the state, plug again. After that, the inside of the vacuum chamber is returned to the atmospheric pressure, so that the gasket is pressed into the vicinity of the liquid surface of the drug solution filled in the syringe barrel 1.

The syringe completed after the vacuum stopper is completed,
Then, it is carried out from the vacuum stopper 54 by the carry-out conveyor 56 while being accommodated and held in the second carrier 40. On the downstream side of the carry-out conveyor 56, the syringe is taken out from the second carrier 40 by a syringe taking-out means (not shown). The taken-out syringe is sent to a subsequent process such as a plunger rod mounting device and a labeler. On the other hand, the second carrier 40, which has become empty due to the syringe being taken out by the syringe taking-out means, is returned to the insertion device 36 side of the second carrier via the return conveyor 60, and the insertion device 36 again makes an injection. The syringe barrel 1 with a luer cap and a top cap plugged therein is inserted into the needle mounting port 1b.

As described above, the silicon coating process in the silicon coating device 10 is performed with the syringe barrel 1 inverted, that is, with the injection needle mounting port 1b facing upward. The filling of the drug solution into the syringe barrel 1 is performed in an upright state, that is, with the injection needle mounting port 1b facing downward and the large opening 1c on the flange 1d side facing upward, so that the first half process and the second half process are performed. The syringe barrel 1 must be inverted between the steps. Moreover, since the syringe barrel 1 is unstable and cannot be transported while being self-supporting, it is necessary to be inserted and supported in the carrier when carrying and various processing steps. Therefore, in the above-described embodiment, the injection barrel 1 is transported by using different carriers 14 and 40 in the first half process and the latter half process.

First carrier 1 used in the first half process
4 is an inverted state (the injection needle mounting port 1b is facing upward)
Then, the syringe barrel 1 discharged from the silicon coating device 10 is received, and the syringe barrel 1 is stored as it is in an inverted state. Then, the first carrier 14 passes through the inside of the drying sterilizer 18 with the injection cylinder 1 accommodated therein, and after the injection cylinder 1 has been extracted in the extraction reversing device 20, the silicon is again returned by the return conveyor 23 in an empty state. A circulating transport path is configured such that the transport path is returned to the discharge-side conveyor 12 that runs on the side of the coating device 10.

In the latter half of the process, since the filling and the stoppering of the gasket are performed in the upright state (the injection needle mounting port 1b is facing downward), the injection cylinder 1 is in the upright state and the second carrier 40 is in the upright state. Housed inside. When the steps such as filling and tapping are completed, the second carrier 40 is conveyed by the carry-out conveyor 56 while containing the injection cylinder 1, and the syringe is extracted from the carrier 40 by the extracting device. afterwards,
The syringe is sent to the next step such as the step of mounting the plunger rod. On the other hand, the second carrier 40 is provided by the return conveyor 60 after the syringe is pulled out.
It is adapted to be returned to the insertion device 36 of 0, and a transporting path is constructed which circulates like the first carrier 14.

In this way, the first carrier transport path for circulating and transporting the first carrier 14 for accommodating the syringe barrel 1 in an inverted state and the second carrier for accommodating the syringe barrel 1 for accommodating the syringe barrel 1 in circulation are transported in circulation. Since the two types of carriers 14 and 40 are circulated and used by providing the second carrier transfer path independently, these carriers 14 and 40 can be used efficiently. Moreover,
The entire syringe manufacturing apparatus including a large number of processing steps can be placed in a compact space for efficient manufacturing.

[0026]

As described above, in the syringe manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention, insertion means for inserting the injection cylinder into the first carrier with the injection needle attachment port facing upward, and the above-mentioned insertion means. Processing means for processing the syringe barrel housed in the first carrier, withdrawing means for withdrawing the syringe barrel from the first carrier, and means for inserting the first carrier with the syringe barrel removed into the first carrier. A first return conveyer for returning to the
Capping means for plugging a cap on the injection needle mounting port of the syringe barrel
An insertion means for inserting the injection cylinder into the second carrier with the injection needle mounting port with the cap facing downward, and an injection cylinder housed in the second carrier. A processing means for performing the processing, a removing means for withdrawing the syringe from the second carrier, and a second with the injection cylinder removed
A second return conveyer for returning the carrier to the insertion means for the second carrier is provided, and the syringe barrel is inverted in a processing step which is not suitable to be performed in an upright state with the injection needle attachment port facing downward. The processing steps that cannot be performed in the inverted state are performed by turning the syringe upside down and performing the processing in an upright state. Therefore, all processing steps are in the optimal state for each step. Can be done at. Furthermore, since a first carrier transport path for circulating and transporting the first carrier and a second carrier transport path for circulating and transporting the second carrier are formed, two different types of carriers can be circulated respectively. It can be used efficiently. Further, by arranging the entire structure of the syringe manufacturing apparatus in an efficient arrangement, the speed can be increased and efficient syringe manufacturing becomes possible. Moreover, the entire device is compact and space saving is possible.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a syringe manufacturing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of an injection cylinder in which processing such as filling and stoppering is performed by the syringe manufacturing apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a first carrier that accommodates the syringe barrel in an inverted state.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of a first carrier that accommodates the syringe barrel in an inverted state.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of a second carrier that accommodates the syringe barrel in an upright state.

FIG. 6 is a vertical cross-sectional view of a second carrier that accommodates the syringe barrel in an upright state.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 syringe 1b Injection needle mounting port 14 First Career 18 Drying sterilizer (processing means) 20 Sampling and inverting means (sampling means and inverting means) 23 1st return conveyor 36 Insertion means into second carrier 40 Second Carrier 44 Processing means (filling machine) 48 processing means (gasket stoppering machine) 54 Processing means (vacuum stoppering machine) 60 Second return conveyor

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (58) Fields surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) A61M 5/178 B65B 55/04

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. Insertion means for inserting a syringe into a first carrier with an injection needle mounting port facing upward, and processing of a syringe contained in the first carrier. Processing means for performing, withdrawal means for withdrawing the syringe from the first carrier, first return conveyor for returning the first carrier from which the syringe has been withdrawn to the insertion means for the first carrier, and withdrawal from the first carrier and inverting means for inverting the injectable barrel, key to the needle mounting opening of inverted syringe
The cap is attached to the cap and the cap is attached.
And an insertion means for inserting the injection cylinder into the second carrier with the injection needle attachment port facing downward, and a processing means for processing the injection cylinder accommodated in the second carrier. And a second return conveyor for returning the second carrier, from which the syringe is removed, to the insertion means for inserting the second carrier into the second carrier. apparatus. 2. A silicone coating device for applying silicon to the inner surface of the syringe barrel with the needle mounting port facing upward, and a syringe barrel discharged from this silicon coating device with the syringe needle mounting port facing upward. An insertion means for inserting into the first carrier that has been conveyed on the conveyor in a state of being directed, and a drying sterilizer that carries in and sterilizes the syringe held in the first carrier by drying. , A withdrawal reversing device for withdrawing and reversing the syringe barrel from the first carrier and delivering it to the transport means, and returning the first carrier with the syringe barrel withdrawn by the withdrawing and reversing device to the conveyor passing through the discharge position from the silicon coating device. The conveyor, the cap capping device that caps the cap on the needle attachment port of the inverted syringe barrel, and the syringe barrel with the cap plugged, with the needle attachment port facing downward. Means for inserting the second carrier in the state of being inserted into the second carrier, a filling machine for filling the drug solution from the upper opening of the syringe barrel held by the second carrier, and a gasket for plugging the gasket into the opening. Stoppering means,
A conveyor of a discharge part from the silicon coating device, which includes a withdrawing unit for withdrawing the syringe barrel from the second carrier, and a return conveyor for returning the second carrier with the syringe barrel removed to the inserting means for the second carrier. The circulatory path of the first carrier is formed from the sterilization dryer and the return conveyor, and the second carrier circulation path is formed by the second carrier inserting means, the filling machine, the gasket stopper means, the return conveyor and the like. Characteristic syringe manufacturing equipment.