JP3516081B2 - Tablet feeding device - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a supply device for transferring a pharmaceutical tablet from a storage device such as a hopper to a tablet surface inspection machine or the like. 2. Description of the Related Art A feeder of this kind is generally provided with a shutter for connecting a chute to a hopper and opening and closing the chute at an outlet of the chute. [0003] As a conventional supply device, there is a so-called knife gate which slides a flat plate across an outlet of a chute to open and close the outlet of the chute. According to this type, when the shutter is closed, the leading edge may hit the tablet, or the tablet may be pinched between the shutter and the periphery of the opening of the chute, thereby damaging or crushing the surface of the tablet. In order to avoid this, there is a case in which a gap is provided by notching the opening edge of the chute, but dirt and dust enter the exit portion of the chute from this gap,
The surface of the tablet may be contaminated. [0004] In addition, there is a damper-type device in which a hollow body to which a shutter is rotatably mounted is connected to a downstream side of a chute. When this shutter is opened, the bottom surface of the hollow body extends in front of the chute and becomes a part of the tablet falling path. When the shutter is closed, the tablet on the shutter is pushed back into the space of the hollow body. At this time, the pressure between each other in the space increases, and the surface of the tablet in that portion may be damaged. Also, when closing the shutter, there is a risk that the tablet will be pinched by the shutter. [0005] The problems of the above-mentioned conventional supply device are as follows. That is, when closing the shutter provided at the outlet of the chute, the tablet is caught by the shutter and is broken. To avoid this, if a gap is provided at the opening edge of the chute, dirt, dust, and the like enter the storage portion of the tablet from this gap, so that it is necessary to further cover the top of the gap. For this purpose, the device must be complicated or large, and extra space is required. According to the tablet supply apparatus of the present invention, the outlet of the tablet supply chute faces the tablet storage chamber, and the tablet storage chamber is formed by a ceiling member, both side members, and a rear member. A circular-surface-shaped opening is formed from the bottom side to the front side, and a circular-surface-shaped shutter is slidably provided in the circular-surface-shaped opening along the direction of the circular surface, and the circular-surface-shaped opening is provided. The shutter is attached to a swing shaft disposed above the outlet of the chute. When the shutter is swung about the swing axis and the opening of the tablet storage chamber is fully opened, the tablets existing on the inner surface of the shutter and in the chute pass through the opening beforehand. It is fed onto a tablet surface inspection machine located downstream. When the amount supplied thereto reaches a predetermined amount, when the shutter is slid in the closing direction, the tablets flowing out from the opening of the chute accumulate on the inner surface of the shutter, and a tablet chevron is formed in the tablet accumulation chamber. Once formed, the outlet of the chute is gradually blocked by the chevron tablet itself. As the shutter continues to slide, the tablet located near the leading edge of the shutter is slightly scooped up by the frictional force with the inner surface of the shutter. However, since the pivot axis of the shutter is located above the outlet of the chute, the inclination of the inner surface of the shutter rises sharply from around the point where the shutter moves above the opening of the chute. And
The scooped tablets cannot be lifted any more, and fall off in a U-turn away from the inner surface. Therefore, even if the shutter is further slid, the tablet at that portion repeats the U-turn, so that only the shutter slides toward the ceiling, and the chevron of the tablet remains as it is. When the leading edge of the shutter approaches the ceiling, there are no tablets at that portion. An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. The inlet 2 of the tablet supply chute 1 is connected to the hopper 3, and the outlet 4 of the chute 1 faces the tablet storage chamber 5.
The tablet storage chamber 5 is formed by a ceiling member 6, both side members 17 and 18, and a rear member 7, and is provided with a circular opening 8 from the bottom to the front. In this opening 8,
A circularly curved shutter 9 is slidably provided along the circularly curved surface direction, and the circularly curved shutter 9 is pivotally mounted on a pivoting shaft 10 disposed above the outlet 4 of the chute 1.
Attached pivotally via. In the state shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, the shutter 9 is swung about the swing shaft 10 in the direction of arrow 14 to fully open the opening 8 of the tablet storage chamber 5 as shown in FIG. Then
The tablets 13 existing on the inner surface of the shutter 9 and in the chute 1 are supplied through an opening 8 to a tablet surface inspection machine (not shown) which is arranged in advance downstream thereof. When the amount supplied becomes necessary to inspect the degree of damage such as dirt or scratches on the surface of the tablet 13, the shutter is released via the lever 19 fixed to the swing shaft 10. 9 is swung in the direction of arrow 15 to make an angular displacement from the state of FIG. 5 to the state of FIG. In the meantime, the tablets 13 flowing out from the opening 4 of the chute 1 accumulate on the inner surface of the shutter 9 to form a tablet crest 13b in the tablet accumulating chamber 5, and the tablets 4 of the crest 13b gradually exit the outlet 4 of the chute 1. To close. Subsequently, the shutter 9 is moved from the state shown in FIG.
When the tablet 13a swings in five directions, the tablet 13a located near the leading edge of the shutter 9 is slightly scooped up by the frictional force with the inner surface of the shutter 9. Since the swing shaft 10 of the shutter 9 is located above the outlet 4 of the chute 1, the inclination of the inner surface of the chute 1 suddenly rises from around the point where the shutter 9 moves above the opening 4 of the chute 1. As a result, the tablet 13 that has reached that position cannot be lifted any further, and separates from the inner surface and falls in a U-turn as shown by the arrow 16. Therefore, the tablet 13a in that portion remains as it is, and only the shutter 9 rotates to rotate the tablet 13a.
Slide toward. That is, the leading edge 9 of the shutter 9
When a approaches the tip edge 6a of the ceiling member 6, the tablet 13 does not exist at that portion. Therefore, the tablet 13 is not sandwiched between the leading edge 9a of the shutter 9 and the leading edge 6a of the ceiling member 6. When the shutter 9 is swung to the state shown in FIG. 6, the opening 8 formed from the bottom side to the front side of the tablet storage chamber 5 is a shutter 9 and the ceiling side is a ceiling member 6.
Since both sides are completely closed by both side members 17 and 18 and the rear side is completely closed by the rear side member 7, dust does not enter the tablet storage chamber 5 from outside. When the shutter 9 is slid in the direction of arrow 14 from the state shown in FIG. 6 to the state shown in FIG. 4, and further slid in the same direction, the chevron 13b of the tablet 13 and the tablet 13 in the chute 1 become tablets. It is discharged again from the opening 8 of the storage chamber 5. Although the present invention has been described with reference to the embodiment shown in the accompanying drawings, the present invention is not limited to the embodiment, and a part of the structure may be replaced with a general technical means within a range indispensable to the structure. It is also possible to replace or add to the above. For example, the overall shape of the tablet storage chamber 5 may be substantially roof-shaped with the ceiling member 6 and the rear member 7 having two inclined surfaces as shown in the accompanying drawings. Further, the inclination of the mounting of the chute 1 with respect to the tablet accumulation chamber 5 can be made steeper or gentler than that shown in the drawing. The present invention is not limited to pharmaceutical tablets, and it goes without saying that the present invention can be used to supply tablets having a shape similar to tablets, as well as granules and powders. further,
It can be used at any time when the tablet in the hopper is moved to any one, not only when it is supplied to the surface inspection machine. According to the present invention having the above-described configuration and operation, when the opening of the tablet storage chamber is closed by the shutter,
The tablet supplied from the opening is not damaged by being sandwiched between the shutter and the tablet storage chamber. Further, according to the present invention, while the shutter is moved from the fully opened state to the fully closed position, tablets are accumulated on the inner surface of the shutter to form a chevron. Since the exit of the chute is gradually closed by the chevron shape of the tablet, the leading edge of the shutter does not directly hit the tablet, and an excessive external force locally acts on the surface of the tablet, so that the portion is not damaged. Further, according to the present invention, since the pivot axis of the shutter is disposed above the outlet of the chute, when the shutter rotates in a direction to close the shutter, the shutter is steeply inclined after passing the height position of the outlet of the chute. And rises almost immediately before coming into contact with the ceiling member. When the shutter is closed, the portion of the tablet in contact with the inner surface near the leading edge of the shutter is slightly lifted while being scooped up along the inner surface of the shutter. However, when the tablet suddenly reaches a position where the inclination increases, the tablet falls in a U-turn. Therefore, the mountain-shaped slope of the tablets in the tablet storage chamber does not rise above the leading edge of the circular shutter. Thus, the supply of tablets can be completely stopped before the leading edge of the shutter reaches the upper edge of the opening, and the swing width of the shutter can be reduced to improve the workability of the supply operation. .

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a tablet supply device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a part of FIG. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of another part of FIG. 1; FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of FIG. FIG. 5 is a sectional view of another state of FIG. 4; FIG. 6 is a sectional view of still another state of FIG. 4; [Description of Signs] 1 Chute 2 Inlet 3 Hopper 4 Outlet 5 Tablet storage chamber 6 Ceiling member 7 Rear member 8 Opening port 9 Shutter 10 Swing shaft 13 Tablet 17 Both side members 18 ... Both members

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] [Claim 1] With the outlet of the chute facing the tablet storage chamber,
The tablet storage chamber is formed by a ceiling member, both side members, and a rear member, a circular opening is formed from the bottom side to the front side, and a circular shutter is formed on the circular opening. A tablet supply device provided so as to be slidable along a curved surface direction, and wherein the circularly curved shutter is axially mounted on a swing shaft disposed above an outlet of the chute.