JP5390933B2 - Filling equipment - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a filling device used in a manufacturing process of a packaging container such as a PTP package.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a packaging container such as a PTP packaging body in which a large number of pocket portions for accommodating tablets or the like are formed in a sheet-like packaging film is known. There is a chute-type filling device as a device for automatically filling each pocket portion of such a packaging container with a tablet or the like for commercialization.

  In general, the filling device includes a fixed chute installed on a packaging film conveyed in a certain direction, a spring pipe connected to the upper portion of the fixed chute, a parts feeder, and the like. In the fixed chute, a vertically penetrating passage is formed, and the tablets guided through the spring pipe descend the passage, and are successively filled into the pocket portions via the lower end of the fixed chute ( For example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2002-37201 A

By the way, in recent years, at least some commodities have been required to have a form in which different types of tablets or the like having different components and contents can be accommodated in the same packaging container. For example, for oral contraceptives, it may be preferable to administer different types of drugs on a weekly (7 day) basis. FIG. 6 illustrates a packaging container corresponding to this, but three types of tablets T1 to T3 are accommodated in units of one week (seven days), and one tablet per day is determined in a predetermined order (first tablet) T1 is taken for 7 days, tablet T2 is taken for 14 days, and tablet T3 is taken for 7 days).

In the case of such a product form, it is required to accurately fill different pockets with different types of tablets. However, according to the prior art including Patent Document 1, it has been difficult to deal with different types of tablets and the like in a series of manufacturing processes.

  Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and the object of the present invention is to provide different types of filling materials in each pocket portion of a packaging film having pocket portions arranged under a certain condition. An object of the present invention is to provide a filling device that can be automatically and simply filled. Other objects of the present invention will become apparent from the following description.

The filling device of the present invention is a filling device that fills each pocket portion of a packaging film having a flat portion and pocket portions that are grouped and arranged in the transport direction with different types of filling materials for each group. For each type of filling object, the outlets are arranged in order along the conveying direction and arranged at predetermined intervals perpendicular to the conveying direction, and communicated with the outlets so that the filling object is self-weighted. A plurality of filling units each having a movable chute provided with a dropping passage that can be dropped, and a plurality of moving means connected to the filling units and controlled to be linked to each other at predetermined timings. The movable chute in a state in which the outlet port is closed by the flat portion of the packaging film to be conveyed is reciprocated perpendicularly to the conveying direction by the moving means, and the outlet port is arranged in a row of pocket portions. By periodically be substantially equal to the location, the with product dropped and discharged from the conductor outlet and is configured to fill each of the corresponding pocket.

In a preferred example of the filling apparatus according to the present invention, the object to be filled has a substantially disk shape, and a plane perpendicular to the thickness direction forms a constant inclination angle with respect to a vertical plane parallel to the transport direction. Thus, it is configured to be dropped and discharged from the outlet.

In a further preferred example of the filling device of the present invention, the inclination angle is set to 75 to 45 degrees.

In another preferred example of the filling apparatus of the present invention, the moving means is a uniaxial actuator.

In a further preferred example of the filling device of the present invention, the uniaxial actuator is configured to be driven by a servo motor.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, a different kind of to-be-filled object can be easily and automatically filled into each pocket part of the packaging film which has a pocket part arranged on a fixed condition.

It is a whole top view showing the filling device concerning an embodiment. It is a whole front view which shows the filling apparatus which concerns on embodiment. It is the sectional view on the AA line of the movable chute in FIG. It is a top view which shows arrangement | positioning of the outlet which concerns on embodiment. It is an expanded sectional view showing the filling situation by the filling device concerning an embodiment. It is a top view which shows the packaging container which concerns on embodiment. It is a top view which shows the example of another packaging container.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 1 is an overall plan view showing a filling device 10 according to the embodiment, FIG. 2 is an overall front view, and FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the movable chute 31 in FIG. FIG. 4 is a plan view showing the arrangement of the outlets 38 of the filling device 10. FIG. 5 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing a filling state by the filling device 10. FIG. 6 is a plan view showing the packaging container (PTP package 20) according to the embodiment.

The filling apparatus 10 of this embodiment is used when filling the pocket part 17 of the packaging film 15 with the tablets T1-T3 as a to-be-filled material, as shown in FIGS. The packaging film 15 is for forming a PTP package 20 as shown in FIG. 6, and a large number of pocket portions 17 are formed by a pre-process (not shown), and are horizontally transported continuously at a constant speed in the transport direction D. ing. The packaging film 15 that has been filled with the tablets T <b> 1 to T <b> 3 by the filling device 10 is further subjected to necessary processes such as sealing, punching, stamping, and inspection in a subsequent process (not shown), and the PTP package 20 is completed.

As shown in FIG. 6, the PTP package 20 includes a packaging film 15a having a flat portion 16 and a predetermined pocket portion 17, and a cover film (not shown) made of aluminum or the like sealed by the packaging film 15a. Configured. In this embodiment, the pocket portions 17 are arranged in a regular lattice pattern of seven rows in the column direction X and four steps in the column direction Y. A band-shaped packaging film 15 (before punching) in which the packaging film 15 a is connected in the step direction Y (= conveyance direction D) is carried into the filling device 10.

The tablets T1 to T3 according to the embodiments are different types of film-coated tablets having substantially the same shape, and have an approximately disc shape with a slightly thickened upper and lower surface and slightly swelled (FIG. 5 and the like). reference). Pocket 17 of the PTP package 20 is to accommodate these tablets T1~T3 by each one tablet, as shown in FIG. 6, the tablet T1 is the first stage _{Y 1,} 2-stage _Y 2 ~ the third stage Y ₃ tablets T2, the fourth stage Y ₄ are determined so as to accommodate each of the tablets T3. The filling device 10 is configured to automatically and appropriately fill different types of tablets T1 to T3 in the respective pocket portions 17 arranged in groups as described above.

  The filling device 10 will be specifically described. As shown in FIGS. 1 to 2, the filling device 10 includes filling units 30 a, 30 b, and 30 c that are sequentially arranged along the conveyance direction D of the packaging film 15. The filling units 30a, 30b, and 30c are filled with tablets T1, T2, and T3, respectively. Since each filling unit 30a, 30b, 30c is the same structure, the filling unit 30a is demonstrated as an example below.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 2, the filling unit 30 a includes a box-shaped movable chute 31. The movable chute 31 has therein a vertically extending drop passage 32 that allows the tablet T1 to continuously drop by its own weight in a predetermined posture. As shown in FIG. 3, each of the fall passages 32 includes a vertical portion 34 and a slanting portion 35, and the slanting portion 35 communicates with a lead-out port 38 formed in the chute bottom surface 37. The chute bottom surface 37 is supported at a slight height from the flat portion 16 of the packaging film 15 and in parallel with the flat portion 16. On the other hand, seven outlets 38 are provided in a straight line at intervals corresponding to the arrangement of the pocket portions 17 perpendicular to the transport direction D (see FIG. 4).

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 2, a flexible coil chute 40 is connected to the upper portion of the movable chute 31 so as to communicate with each drop passage 32. The coil chute 40 is further connected to a hopper that stores a large number of tablets T1 by type, a vibratory feeder (not shown), etc. It has become so.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the movable chute 31 is connected to a uniaxial actuator 45 as a moving means via a mounting block 43. The uniaxial actuator 45 is fixed so as to cross over the packaging film 15 conveyed in the conveyance direction D. The uniaxial actuator 45 is covered by a cover body 46, and includes a guide rail 47 and a screw shaft 48 that extend horizontally in a direction perpendicular to the transport direction D, and a large number of rolling elements ( And a slider 49 that slides along the guide rail 47. A bracket portion 50 extending outward from the cover body 46 is fixed to the slider 49, and the movable chute 31 is attached and supported by an attachment block 43 suspended from the bracket portion 50.

When the screw shaft 48 of the uniaxial actuator 45 is rotated forward and backward, the movable chute 31 can be smoothly reciprocated perpendicularly to the transport direction D as the slider 49 moves in a relative spiral motion. As shown in FIG. 1, the screw shaft 48 uses a servo motor 53 as a drive source.
Servo motors 53 of the filling units 30a to 30c are controlled so as to operate synchronously via the controller 55, the conveyance speed of the packaging film 15, the interval (pitch) of the pocket portions 17 in the conveyance direction D, Based on the mutual distance between the filling units 30a to 30c, the linkage control is performed so as to operate at predetermined timings.

In this embodiment, a cylinder 44 is interposed between the mounting block 43 and the bracket portion 50 so that the movable chute 31 can be lifted up appropriately. Thereby, it can respond to the thickness change of the packaging film 15 at the time of film reel replacement | exchange, or can perform a maintenance etc. easily. A shutter plate (not shown) for opening and closing the outlet 38 of the chute bottom surface 37 may be provided as necessary.

The operation of the filling apparatus 10 configured as described above will be further described with reference to FIGS. Since the basic operation of each of the filling units 30a to 30c in the filling apparatus 10 is common, the following description will be given mainly using the filling unit 30a as an example.

  When the tablet T1 is not filled, the movable chute 31 of the filling unit 30a is in the state shown in FIG. As shown in the figure, the outlets 38 are positioned with a shift of about a half pitch with respect to the arrangement of the pocket portions 17 of the packaging film 15. The tablets T1 are stacked in each drop passage 32 above the outlet 38, but each outlet 38 is blocked by the flat portion 16 of the packaging film 15 that is continuously transported in the transport direction D. Therefore, the tablet T1 is held in the drop passage 32 and does not fall from the outlet 38.

When the tablet T1 is filled, the movable chute 31 of the filling unit 30a is horizontally moved by the moving means 45 so as to be orthogonal to the transport direction D, and the state shown in FIG. At this time, each outlet 38 substantially coincides with the row position of the pocket portion 17 of the packaging film 15. The moving speed of the movable chute 31 is sufficiently faster than the conveying speed of the packaging film 15, and when the tablet T1 is filled, as shown in FIG. As shown in FIGS. 5B to 5C, when the pocket portion 17 immediately reaches the lower portion of the outlet port 38 while sliding on the flat portion 16 at the row position, the pocket portion 17 immediately reaches the lower portion of the outlet port 38. The tablet T1 is dropped and discharged and filled in the pocket portion 17.

In this embodiment, a drop passage 32 in the movable chute 31 is formed so that the tablet T1 is dropped and discharged in a posture as shown in FIG. That is, the vertical portion 34 of the upper half of the drop passage 32 is formed so that the tablets T1 can be stacked in a vertical state, while the oblique running portion 35 of the lower half guides the vertical portion 34. It is formed to be gradually curved toward the outlet 38 (see FIG. 3). As a result, the tablet 60 gradually approaches the horizontal state from the vertical state as it falls in the dropping passage 32, and eventually the plane 60 perpendicular to the thickness direction thereof becomes the transport direction D as shown in FIG. It is discharged from the outlet 38 in an oblique state that forms a constant inclination angle θ with respect to the parallel vertical surface 61. The tablet T1 that has been dropped and discharged comes into contact with the inner wall surface 17a of the pocket portion 17 and then falls within the pocket portion 17 and becomes horizontal as shown in FIG.

The movable chute 31 that has completed the filling of the tablet T1 is again returned to the state shown in FIG. During this time, as shown in FIG. 5 (d), the outlet 38 is blocked by the flat portion 16 of the packaging film 15 to be conveyed, so that the subsequent tablet T 1 ′ falls to the other pocket portion 17. There is no.
In addition, in the filling unit 30b, the movable chute 31 is moved each time the filling of the second stage (second stage Y _{2 to} third stage Y ₃ minutes) is completed.

Normally, the pocket portion 17 is formed slightly deeper than the entire thickness of the tablet T1, so that the subsequent tablet T1 ′ can enter the pocket portion 17 instantaneously after the tablet T1 is filled (FIG. 5 ( c)). In this embodiment, as described above, since the tablet T1 ′ is in a predetermined oblique posture at the outlet 38, the tablet T1 ′ is moved to the transport direction D of the packaging film 15 as shown in FIG. Rotate along the rotation direction R of the tablet (although slightly), whereby the impact at the time of contact between the tablet T1 ′ and the open end 17b of the pocket portion 17 or the flat portion 16 is reduced. Accordingly, it is possible to effectively prevent the subsequent tablet T1 'from being damaged. For this reason, although the said inclination | tilt angle (theta) is influenced also by the shape etc. of tablet T1 ', it is good to set to the range of 75-45 degree | times. When the inclination angle θ exceeds 75 degrees, the tablet T1 ′ is difficult to rotate, and conversely, when the inclination angle θ is less than 45 degrees, the tablet T1 is difficult to fall within the pocket portion 17, and it takes time to transport the packaging film 15. In addition, the subsequent tablet T1 ′ is also easily clogged.

The filling units 30a to 30c of the filling device 10 can repeatedly and automatically fill the corresponding pockets 17 with the tablets T1 to T3 by periodically repeating such operations at appropriate timings. More particularly, the filling of tablets T1 by filling unit 30a, is performed after filling the first stage Y ₁ minute every three stages pass to the first stage Y ₁ minute following tablet according filling unit 30b T2 filling is conducted every two stages pass from filling the second stage _Y 2 to 3 stage _{Y 3} minutes to the second step _Y 2 to 3 stage _{Y 3} minutes following, by filling unit 30c filling of tablets T3 is performed after filling the fourth stage Y ₄ minutes per three stages passes to the next fourth stage partial Y ₄ minutes.

According to the filling device 10 described above, the tablets T <b> 1 to T <b> 3 can be easily and automatically filled in the pocket portions 17 of the packaging film 15.
Moreover, according to the filling apparatus 10, it can perform a quick and accurate filling, conveying the packaging film 15 continuously. In the filling apparatus 10, it is possible to process about 70 sheets of the packaging film 15a per minute. When using a mechanism that opens and closes the outlet 38 with a shutter plate or a slide plate and fills the tablet T1 to T3 due to a collision with the shutter plate or the slide plate when the conveyance speed of the packaging film 15 is increased. However, if the filling device 10 is used, such a risk is low.

Moreover, according to the filling apparatus 10, since the uniaxial actuator 45 is used, the reciprocating motion of the movable chute 31 can be performed very smoothly and reliably.
In the above embodiment, the uniaxial actuator 45 is driven by the servo motor 53. However, instead of the servo motor 53, a stepping motor or other servo mechanism may be adopted, and an appropriate cam or link may be used. A combination of mechanisms can also be used. However, when the servo motor 53 is used, more accurate control can be performed with a simple configuration.

The description of the above embodiment is not intended to limit the present invention, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.
For example, the number and positions of the filling units and outlets may be changed as appropriate according to the type of the filling object and the arrangement of the pocket portions.

In the above, an example in which the pocket portions are arranged in a regular lattice shape has been described. However, the present invention can be applied to any other arrangement as long as the pocket portions are arranged under a certain condition. it can. FIG. 7 shows other packaging containers 21, 22, and 23 to which the present invention can be applied. In each of these examples, the pocket portions 17 to be filled with the tablets T1, T2, and T3 form groups with different numbers of rows, but the portions where the pocket portions 17 are provided are between groups. Are arranged so that the column positions match.
Thus, including the above-described embodiments, the pocket portions are arranged in groups in the transport direction (step direction), and each pocket portion is to be filled with a different type of filling object for each group. In addition, the present invention can exhibit excellent effects.

In the above, tablets made of film-coated tablets were used as the “filler”, but not limited thereto, sugar-coated tablets, enteric-coated tablets, capsules and other pharmaceuticals, health foods, supplements and other food and drink products, cosmetics, etc. Can target a variety of things.

  The present invention can be widely used in the manufacturing process of a packaging container including a PTP package.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Filling device 15 Packaging film 16 Flat part 17 Pocket part 20 PTP packaging bodies 30a, 30b, 30c Filling unit 31 Movable chute 32 Drop passage 35 Slant part 38 Outlet 45 Single-axis actuator 53 Servo motors T1, T2, T3 Tablet D Transport Direction X Stage direction Y Row direction

Claims (5)

A filling device that fills each pocket portion of a packaging film having a flat portion and a pocket portion that is grouped and arranged in the transport direction with different types of objects to be filled for each group,
For each type of object to be filled, the outlets are arranged in order along the conveying direction and arranged at predetermined intervals perpendicular to the conveying direction, and communicated with the outlets so that the object to be filled falls by its own weight. A plurality of filling units, each having a movable chute provided with a drop passage;
A plurality of moving means connected to the filling unit and linked and controlled to operate at predetermined timings,
The movable chute, which is in a state where the outlet port is blocked by the flat portion of the packaging film to be transported, is reciprocated perpendicularly to the transport direction by the moving means, and the outlet port is brought to the row position of the pocket portion. A filling device configured to fill the corresponding pocket portions with the filling material dropped and discharged from the outlet port by substantially matching them periodically. The filling material has a substantially disk shape, and the plane perpendicular to the thickness direction is dropped and discharged from the outlet in an oblique state in which a fixed inclination angle is formed with respect to a vertical plane parallel to the transport direction. The filling device according to claim 1. The filling device according to claim 2, wherein the inclination angle is set to 75 to 45 degrees. The filling device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the moving means comprises a uniaxial actuator. The filling device according to claim 4, wherein the uniaxial actuator is driven by a servo motor.