JP6510102B1 - Granular material processing apparatus and granular material processing method - Google Patents

Abstract

An object of the present invention is to provide a particle processing apparatus and a particle processing method capable of performing predetermined processing on both the front and back surfaces of the particles, and reducing the number of parts of the apparatus and facilitating the miniaturization. A tablet printing apparatus includes an annular conveyance mechanism, a printing unit, and a reversing mechanism. The annular conveyance mechanism 20 conveys the tablet 9 along an annular conveyance path while adsorbing and holding the tablet 9. The printing unit 30 prints an image on the surface of the tablet 9 at a processing position on the transport path of the annular transport mechanism 20. The reversing mechanism 70 reverses the front and back of the tablet 9 at a reversing position on the transport path of the annular transport mechanism 20. Therefore, printing can be performed on both sides of the tablet 9 at the same processing position on the transport path. [Selected figure] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a particle processing apparatus and a particle processing method for performing predetermined processing on the surface of particles.

  Letters and codes for identifying products are printed on the surface of tablets, which are pharmaceutical products. Moreover, a mark or an illustration may be printed also on tablet cakes such as Lamune. 2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is known a printing apparatus that prints an image by an inkjet method on the surface of such granular substances such as tablets and tablets. In particular, in recent years, the types of tablets have diversified due to the spread of generic drugs. For this reason, in order to make a tablet easy to identify, the technique which prints clearly by an inkjet system on front and back both surfaces of a tablet attracts attention.

  The printing apparatus of Patent Document 1 includes an upstream conveyance unit (3) and a downstream conveyance unit (4). In the upstream transport unit (3), the tablet is printed by the first printing unit (201) while the tablet is transported. At the downstream side transport unit (4), the tablet is printed by the second printing unit (202) while receiving and transporting the tablet from the upstream side transport unit (3) in a state where the front and back sides are inverted. This prints on the front and back of the tablet.

JP, 2015-223323, A

  However, in Patent Document 1, the printing unit and the imaging unit attached to the printing unit are provided in both the upstream side transport unit (3) and the downstream side transport unit (4). That is, in Patent Document 1, a processing unit for printing and photographing on one side of the tablet and a processing unit for printing and photographing on the other side of the tablet are separately provided. ing. Therefore, in the structure of Patent Document 1, the number of parts of the printing apparatus increases, and it is difficult to miniaturize the printing apparatus.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and it is possible to perform predetermined processing on both the front and back sides of the granular material, and the granular material processing apparatus which can miniaturize the apparatus more than before. And to provide a particulate matter processing method.

In order to solve the above-mentioned subject, the 1st invention of this application is a granular material processing device which performs predetermined processing on the surface of granular material, and granular material is held along an annular conveyance path, adsorbing and holding granular material. At an annular conveyance mechanism for conveying, at a processing position on the conveyance path of the annular conveyance mechanism, at a processing unit that performs the predetermined processing on the surface of particulate matter, at a reverse position on the conveyance path of the annular conveyance mechanism center with turning over of particulates, wherein the reversing mechanism for moving the position in the width direction of the granular materials in the transport path, Bei example, said reversing mechanism, a first axis inclined with respect to the width direction A first inclined drum having a conical or pyramidal first side surface, a cone adjacent to the first inclined drum in the width direction and centered on a second axis inclined with respect to the width direction A second with a pyramidal second side An inclined drum, and the first inclined drum rotates while attracting and holding the granular material delivered from the annular conveyance mechanism to the first side surface to deliver the granular material to the second inclined drum The second inclined drum rotates while holding the particulate matter transferred from the first inclined drum on the second side surface, and delivers the particulate matter to the annular conveyance mechanism .

A second invention of the present application is the particulate material processing device according to the first invention, wherein the annular conveyance mechanism is configured such that a holding surface in which a plurality of adsorption holes for adsorbing and holding the particles are arranged in the width direction is the conveyance path. The holding surface has a first area and a second area adjacent to each other in the width direction, and the reversing mechanism is configured to move the particulate matter held by the suction holes in the first area Move to the adsorption holes in 2 areas.

The third invention of the present application relates to a granular material processing apparatus of the first invention, when viewed in the conveying direction of the annular conveying mechanism, and the apex angle of the second inclined drum and vertical angle of the first inclined drum The sum of is 180 degrees.

A fourth aspect of the present invention is the particulate material processing apparatus according to the third aspect , wherein the apex angle of the first inclined drum and the apex angle of the second inclined drum when viewed in the conveyance direction of the annular conveyance mechanism are the same. , All are 90 degrees.

A fifth invention of the present application is the particulate material processing device of the fourth invention, wherein the first inclined drum and the second inclined drum have the same shape and size.

A sixth invention of the present application is the particulate matter processing device according to any one of the first invention to the fifth invention, wherein the first inclined drum has a circle on the first side surface centering on the first axis. The second inclined drum has a plurality of suction holes arranged in an annular shape centering on the second axis on the second side surface, and has a plurality of suction holes arranged in a ring shape. The particulate matter is adsorbed and held one by one in the adsorption holes.

A seventh invention of the present application is the particulate matter processing device according to any one of the first invention to the fifth invention, wherein the first inclined drum is centered on the first axis on the first side surface. An annular suction slit is provided, and the second inclined drum has an annular suction slit centered on the second axis on the second side surface, and a plurality of particles are adsorbed on the suction slit. It is held.

The eighth invention of the present application is the particulate matter processing device according to any one of the first invention to the seventh invention, wherein the adsorptive power of the particulates in the second side is the adsorption of the particulates in the first side. Greater than power.

A ninth invention of the present application is a particulate material processing apparatus for performing predetermined processing on the surface of particulate material, and an annular conveyance mechanism which conveys the particulate material along an annular conveyance path while adsorbing and holding the particulate material; At the processing position on the transport path of the annular transport mechanism, the front and back of the particulates are reversed at the processing unit that performs the predetermined processing on the surface of the particulate matter and at the reverse position on the transport path of the annular transport mechanism And a reversing mechanism for moving the position of the particulate matter in the transport direction in the transport path , wherein the reversing mechanism is conical or pyramidal around a first axis inclined with respect to the transport direction. It has a first inclined drum having a first side surface, and a conical or pyramidal second side surface adjacent to the first inclined drum and the transport direction and centered on a second axis inclined with respect to the transport direction. A second tilting drum, The first inclined drum is rotated while attracting and holding the granular material transferred from the annular conveyance mechanism to the first side surface, and delivers the granular material to the second inclined drum; The drum rotates while attracting and holding the particulate matter delivered from the first inclined drum to the second side, and delivers the particulate matter to the annular conveyance mechanism.

A tenth invention of the present application is the particulate matter processing device according to any one of the first invention to the ninth invention, wherein the processing unit includes a printing unit that performs printing on the surface of the granular material by an inkjet method.

An eleventh invention of the present application is the particulate matter processing device according to any one of the first invention to the tenth invention, wherein the processing unit includes a camera for photographing the surface of the particulate matter.

The twelfth invention of the present application is the granular material processing device according to any one of the first invention to the eleventh invention, wherein the granular material is a tablet.

A thirteenth invention of the present application is a particulate material treating method for performing predetermined treatment on the surface of a particulate material, comprising the steps of: a) carrying the particulate material into an annular conveyance path; b) after the step a) A step of carrying out the predetermined treatment on the first surface of the granular material at a treatment position on the conveying route while conveying the granular material along the conveying route, and c) after the step b), on the conveying route And reversing the front and back of the particulates and moving the widthwise position of the particulates in the transport path , and d) transporting the particulates along the transport path after the step c). and while, at the processing position, possess and performing the predetermined processing on the second surface of the granules, after e) said step d), and a step of unloading the particulate material from the transport path, wherein In step c), the first axis inclined with respect to the width direction is A first inclined drum having a conical conical or pyramidal first side surface, and a conical shape adjacent to the first inclined drum in the width direction and centered on a second axis inclined with respect to the width direction Alternatively, using the second inclined drum having a pyramidal second side surface, the particulate material transferred from the annular conveyance mechanism in the first inclined drum is rotated while being held by suction on the first side surface, The granular material is delivered to the second inclined drum, and the granular material transferred from the first inclined drum is rotated and held on the second side surface by the second inclined drum while rotating to the granular conveyance mechanism. Deliver the object .

According to the first to thirteenth inventions of the present application, predetermined processing can be performed on both sides of the particulate matter at the same processing position on the transport path. Thus, the number of parts of the device can be reduced, and the device can be miniaturized. Further, the length in the transport direction required for the reversing mechanism can be suppressed.

In particular, according to the third invention of the present application, it is possible to invert the front and back of the particulate matter and move the position in the width direction of the particulate matter on the same holding surface.

In particular, according to the fifth invention of the present application, the first inclined drum and the second inclined drum can be made common as parts.

In particular, according to the sixth invention of the present application, positional deviation of the particulate matter after adsorption and holding on the first inclined surface and the second inclined surface hardly occurs.

In particular, according to the seventh invention of the present application, even when there is a slight positional deviation, the granular material can be held at the time of delivery of the granular material.

In particular, according to the eighth invention of the present application, when the particulate matter is transferred from the first side to the second side, it is difficult for the particulate matter to fall off.

It is a side view of a tablet printing device. It is a top view of a tablet printing device. It is a bottom view of a tablet printing device. It is a partial perspective view of an annular conveyance mechanism. It is a bottom view of a head. It is the figure which looked at the inversion mechanism in the conveyance direction. It is the figure which looked at the inversion mechanism in the conveyance direction. It is the block diagram which showed the connection of a control part and each part. It is the flowchart which showed the flow of the printing process in a tablet printing apparatus. It is the figure which showed the mode of conveyance of the tablet in 1st area | region. It is the figure which showed the mode of conveyance of the tablet in 2nd area | region. It is a side view of the tablet printing device concerning a modification. It is the figure which looked at the inversion direction which concerns on a modification in the conveyance direction. It is a top view of the tablet printing apparatus which concerns on a modification.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following description, the direction in which the tablet is transported by the annular transport mechanism is referred to as “transport direction”, and the direction perpendicular to the transport direction and along the holding surface is referred to as “width direction”.

<1. Overall Configuration of Tablet Printing Device>
FIG. 1 is a side view of a tablet printing apparatus 1 which is an example of a particulate matter processing apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a top view of the tablet printing apparatus 1. FIG. 3 is a bottom view of the tablet printing apparatus 1.

  The tablet printing apparatus 1 is an apparatus for printing an image such as a product name, a product code, a company name, and a logo mark on both sides of each tablet 9 while transporting a plurality of tablets 9 which are granular materials. The tablets 9 may be uncoated tablets (naked tablets) or coated tablets such as sugar-coated tablets and film-coated tablets (FC tablets). Moreover, the tablet 9 may be a capsule containing a hard capsule and a soft capsule. Further, the “particulate matter” in the present invention is not limited to tablets as a medicine, and may be tablets as health food, tablet cakes such as rhamne and the like.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the tablet printing apparatus 1 of the present embodiment includes a loading mechanism 10, an annular conveyance mechanism 20, a printing unit 30, a first camera 40, a second camera 50, a drying mechanism 60, and a reversing mechanism 70. , An unloading mechanism 80, and a control unit 90.

  The loading mechanism 10 is a mechanism for loading the plurality of tablets 9 loaded into the tablet printing device 1 into the annular transport mechanism 20. The loading mechanism 10 includes an alignment mechanism (not shown) including a vibration feeder, a rotary feeder, a chute, and the like, and a loading drum 11. The plurality of tablets 9 loaded into the tablet printing apparatus 1 are aligned in a plurality of rows (three rows in the present embodiment) by the alignment mechanism and supplied to the outer peripheral surface of the loading drum 11. The loading drum 11 rotates while adsorbing and holding the plurality of aligned tablets 9 on the outer peripheral surface, and delivers the tablets 9 to the annular conveyance mechanism 20.

  The annular conveyance mechanism 20 is a mechanism that conveys the plurality of tablets 9 along an annular conveyance path while holding the plurality of tablets 9. The annular conveyance mechanism 20 has a pair of pulleys 21 and an annular conveyance belt 22 stretched between the pair of pulleys 21. One of the pair of pulleys 21 is rotated by the power obtained from the transfer motor 23. As a result, the transport belt 22 rotates in the direction of the arrow in FIG. At this time, the other of the pair of pulleys 21 is driven to rotate as the transport belt 22 rotates.

  FIG. 4 is a partial perspective view of the annular conveyance mechanism 20. As shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 4, a plurality of suction holes 221 are provided on the holding surface 220 which is the outer peripheral surface of the conveyance belt 22. The plurality of suction holes 221 are arranged at equal intervals in the transport direction and the width direction. Further, as shown in FIG. 1, the annular conveyance mechanism 20 has a suction mechanism 24 that sucks gas from the space inside the conveyance belt 22. When the suction mechanism 24 is operated, the space inside the transport belt 22 has a negative pressure lower than the atmospheric pressure. The plurality of tablets 9 are adsorbed and held by the suction holes 221 by the negative pressure.

  In this manner, the plurality of tablets 9 are held on the surface of the conveyance belt 22 in a state of being aligned in the conveyance direction and the width direction. Then, the annular conveyance mechanism 20 conveys the plurality of tablets 9 along the annular conveyance path by rotating the conveyance belt 22. The plurality of tablets 9 are horizontally transported below the four heads 31 described later.

  Further, as shown by a broken line in FIG. 1, the annular conveyance mechanism 20 has a first blow mechanism 25 and a second blow mechanism 26. The first blow mechanism 25 is provided inside the conveyance belt 22 and at a position facing the first inclined drum 71 described later via the conveyance belt 22. The first blow mechanism 25 sprays a gas only to the suction holes 221 facing the first inclined drum 71 among the plurality of suction holes 221 of the transport belt 22. Then, the adsorption holes 221 have a positive pressure higher than the atmospheric pressure. Thereby, the adsorption of the tablets 9 in the adsorption holes 221 is released, and the tablets 9 are delivered from the transport belt 22 to the first inclined drum 71.

  The second blow mechanism 26 is provided inside the conveyance belt 22 and at a position facing the delivery chute 81 described later via the conveyance belt 22. The second blow mechanism 26 sprays gas only to the suction holes 221 facing the unloading chute 81 among the plurality of suction holes 221 of the transport belt 22. Then, the adsorption holes 221 have a positive pressure higher than the atmospheric pressure. Thereby, the adsorption of the tablets 9 in the adsorption holes 221 is released, and the tablets 9 are delivered from the transport belt 22 through the unloading chute 81 to the unloading conveyor 82.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the holding surface 220 of the conveyor belt 22 of the present embodiment holds a first area A1 for holding the tablet 9 before being inverted by the inverting mechanism 70 and a first area for holding the tablet 9 after being inverted. And 2 regions A2. The first area A1 and the second area A2 are adjacent in the width direction. In the present embodiment, three rows of suction holes 221 are provided in the width direction in the first area A1 and the second area A2. The tablets 9 carried in by the above-described carrying-in mechanism 10 are adsorbed and held by the suction holes 221 in the first area A1. Further, the plurality of tablets 9 printed on both sides are transferred from the suction holes 221 of the second area A2 to the unloading mechanism 80.

  The printing unit 30 is a processing unit that performs printing using an inkjet method on the surface of the tablet 9 conveyed by the conveyance belt 22. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the printing unit 30 of the present embodiment has four heads 31. The four heads 31 are located above the transport belt 22 and arranged in a line along the transport direction of the tablets 9. Each head 31 extends in the width direction across both the first area A1 and the second area A2 of the transport belt 22. The four heads 31 eject ink droplets of different colors (for example, cyan, magenta, yellow, and black) toward the surface of the tablet 9. Then, a multi-color image is recorded on the surface of the tablet 9 by superposition of single-color images formed by these respective colors. In addition, as the ink discharged from each head 31, an edible ink manufactured using a material approved by the Japanese Pharmacopoeia, the Food Sanitation Law, etc. is used.

  FIG. 5 is a bottom view of one head 31. In FIG. 3, the conveyor belt 22 and the plurality of tablets 9 held by the conveyor belt 22 are indicated by two-dot chain lines. As shown in an enlarged manner in FIG. 3, the ejection surface 310 which is the lower surface of the head 31 is provided with a plurality of nozzles 311 capable of ejecting ink droplets. In the present embodiment, the plurality of nozzles 311 are two-dimensionally arranged in the transport direction and the width direction on the lower surface of the head 31. The nozzles 311 are arranged in a staggered manner in the width direction. As described above, when the plurality of nozzles 311 are two-dimensionally arranged, the positions in the width direction of the respective nozzles 311 can be made to approach each other. However, the plurality of nozzles 311 may be arranged in a line along the width direction.

  As a method of discharging ink droplets from the nozzles 311, for example, a so-called piezo method is used in which the ink in the nozzles 311 is pressurized and discharged by applying a voltage to a piezoelectric element which is a piezoelectric element to deform it. However, the ink droplet discharge method may be a so-called thermal method in which the heater is energized to heat and expand the ink in the nozzle 311.

  The first camera 40 is a processing unit for photographing the surface of the tablet 9 before printing. The first camera 40 is located on the downstream side of the transport path with respect to the loading drum 11 and on the upstream side of the transport path with respect to the four heads 31. In addition, the first camera 40 extends in the width direction across both the first area A1 and the second area A2. For the first camera 40, for example, a line sensor in which imaging devices such as a CCD and a CMOS are arranged in the width direction is used. The first camera 40 photographs a plurality of tablets 9 conveyed by the conveyance belt 22. An image acquired by photographing is transmitted from the first camera 40 to the control unit 90 described later. The control unit 90 detects the presence or absence of the tablet 9 in each suction hole 221, the position of the tablet 9, and the posture of the tablet 9 based on the image obtained from the first camera 40. Further, based on the image obtained from the first camera 40, the control unit 90 also inspects whether or not each tablet 9 has a defect such as a chipping.

  The second camera 50 is a processing unit for photographing the surface of the tablet 9 after printing. The second camera 50 is located downstream of the four heads 31 in the transport path and upstream of the drying mechanism 60 in the transport path. In addition, the first camera 40 extends in the width direction across both the first area A1 and the second area A2. For the second camera 50, for example, a line sensor in which imaging devices such as a CCD and a CMOS are arranged in the width direction is used. The second camera 50 photographs a plurality of tablets 9 conveyed by the conveyance belt 22. The image acquired by photographing is transmitted from the second camera 50 to the control unit 90 described later. The control unit 90 checks the quality of the image printed on the surface of the tablet 9 based on the image obtained from the second camera 50.

  The drying mechanism 60 is a mechanism for drying the ink attached to the surface of the tablet 9. The drying mechanism 60 is positioned downstream of the second camera 50 on the downstream side of the transport path and on the upstream side of the transport path relative to the unloading chute 81 described later. Moreover, the drying mechanism 60 extends in the width direction across both the first area A1 and the second area A2. For the drying mechanism 60, for example, a hot air supply mechanism that blows a heated gas (hot air) toward the tablets 9 transported by the transport belt 22 is used. The ink adhering to the surface of the tablet 9 is dried by hot air and fixed on the surface of the tablet 9.

  Thus, the tablet printing apparatus 1 of the present embodiment has four processing units, the printing unit 30, the first camera 40, the second camera 50, and the drying mechanism 60. Each processing unit performs each processing of printing, photographing, and drying on the surface of the tablet 9 at each processing position on the transport path.

  The reversing mechanism 70 is a mechanism that reverses the front and back of the tablet 9 transported by the transport belt 22 and moves the tablet 9 from the first area A1 to the second area A2. The reversing mechanism 70 is positioned on the downstream side of the transport path with respect to the unloading chute 81 described later and on the upstream side of the transport path with respect to the loading drum 11. Hereinafter, the position at which the reversing mechanism 70 is provided on the transport path is referred to as a "reverse position".

  6 and 7 are views of the reversing mechanism 70 viewed from the lower side in the transport direction. As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the reversing mechanism 70 of the present embodiment includes a first inclined drum 71 and a second inclined drum 72. The first inclined drum 71 has a conical first side surface 710 centered on a first axis C1 inclined with respect to the width direction. A portion of the first side surface 710 around the first axis C1 opposes the first area A1 of the transport belt 22 with a slight gap. Further, the first inclined drum 71 is fixed to the output shaft of the first motor 73. When the first motor 73 is driven, the first inclined drum 71 rotates about the first axis C1.

  The second inclined drum 72 has a conical second side surface 720 centered on the second axis C2 inclined with respect to the width direction. The first inclined drum 71 and the second inclined drum 72 are disposed adjacent to each other in the width direction such that the tops of the first inclined drum 71 and the second inclined drum 72 face each other. A portion of the second side surface 720 around the second axis C2 opposes the second area A2 of the transport belt 22 with a slight gap. In addition, another part of the second side surface 720 around the second axis C2 opposes the first side surface 710 with a slight gap. Also, the second inclined drum 72 is fixed to the output shaft of the second motor 74. When the second motor 74 is driven, the second inclined drum 72 rotates about the second axis C2.

  In the present embodiment, the apex angle of the first inclined drum 71 and the apex angle of the second inclined drum 72 when viewed in the transport direction are both 90 °. Further, the inclination angle of the first axis C1 with respect to the holding surface 220 is 45 °. Further, the inclination angle of the second axis C2 with respect to the holding surface 220 is 45 °. Therefore, the first side 710 and the second side 720 face each other at a position of 90 ° with respect to the holding surface 220. Thus, if the first inclined drum 71 and the second inclined drum 72 have the same shape and the same size, it is possible to share the first inclined drum 71 and the second inclined drum 72 as parts. Thereby, the manufacturing cost of the tablet printing apparatus 1 can be reduced.

  The first side surface 710 is provided with a plurality of suction holes 711. In the present embodiment, three suction holes 711 arranged at equal intervals along the generatrix of the first side surface 710 are provided at equal angular intervals in a ring shape centering on the first axis C1. Similarly, a plurality of suction holes 721 are provided on the second side surface 720 as well. In the present embodiment, three suction holes 721 arranged at equal intervals along the generatrix of the second side surface 720 are provided at equal angular intervals in a ring shape centering on the second axis C2.

  The pressure in the internal space of the first inclined drum 71 is maintained at a negative pressure lower than the atmospheric pressure by a suction mechanism (not shown). The first inclined drum 71 holds the tablets 9 one by one in the plurality of suction holes 711 by this negative pressure. Similarly, the pressure in the internal space of the second inclined drum 72 is also maintained at a negative pressure lower than the atmospheric pressure by a suction mechanism (not shown). The second inclined drum 72 holds the tablets 9 one by one in the plurality of suction holes 721 by this negative pressure.

  Further, as indicated by a broken line in FIG. 6, a third blow mechanism 75 is provided inside the first inclined drum 71. The third blow mechanism 75 sprays the gas only to the suction holes 711 facing the second tilt drum 72 among the plurality of suction holes 711 of the first tilt drum 71. Then, the adsorption holes 711 have a positive pressure higher than the atmospheric pressure. Thereby, the adsorption of the tablet 9 in the adsorption hole 711 is released, and the tablet 9 is delivered from the adsorption hole 711 of the first inclined drum 71 to the adsorption hole 721 of the second inclined drum 72.

  Further, as indicated by a broken line in FIG. 6, a fourth blow mechanism 76 is provided inside the second inclined drum 72. The fourth blow mechanism 76 sprays the gas only to the suction holes 721 facing the second region A2 of the transport belt 22 among the plurality of suction holes 721 of the second inclined drum 72. Then, the adsorption holes 721 have a positive pressure higher than the atmospheric pressure. As a result, the adsorption of the tablets 9 in the adsorption holes 721 is released, and the tablets 9 are delivered from the adsorption holes 721 of the second inclined drum 72 to the adsorption holes 221 of the second area A2 of the transport belt 22.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the tablets 9 held by the suction holes 221 in the first area A <b> 1 of the conveyance belt 22 and conveyed to the reverse position are delivered to the first inclined drum 71. The first inclined drum 71 rotates while receiving and holding the tablets 9 received from the transport belt 22 in the suction holes 711 of the first side surface 710, and delivers the tablets 9 to the second inclined drum 72. Thereafter, the second inclined drum 72 rotates while adsorbing and holding the tablets 9 received from the first inclined drum 71 to the suction holes 721 of the second side surface 720, and the suction holes 221 of the second area A 2 of the transport belt 22. Hand over Thereby, while the position of the width direction of the tablet 9 moves to 1st area | region A1 to 2nd area | region A2, the front and back of the tablet 9 is reversed.

  The adsorption power of the plurality of adsorption holes 721 of the second inclined drum 72 may be slightly larger than the adsorption power of the plurality of adsorption holes 711 of the first inclined drum 71. Then, when the tablet 9 is delivered from the suction hole 711 of the first inclined drum 71 to the suction hole 721 of the second inclined drum 72, the tablet 9 is unlikely to come off. However, the suction force of the plurality of suction holes 711 of the first tilting drum 71 and the suction force of the plurality of suction holes 721 of the second tilting drum 72 may be the same.

  The unloading mechanism 80 is a mechanism for unloading the plurality of tablets 9 from the annular conveyance mechanism 20 to the outside of the tablet printing apparatus 1. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the unloading mechanism 80 has an unloading chute 81 and an unloading conveyor 82. The discharge chute 81 is located downstream of the drying mechanism 60 on the conveyance path and upstream of the reversing mechanism 70 on the conveyance path. Further, the discharge chute 81 is opposed to the second area A2 of the transport belt 22. When the tablet 9 adsorbed to the adsorption holes 221 in the second area A2 reaches the position of the discharge chute 81, the adsorption of the tablet 9 is released by the second blow mechanism 26. As a result, the tablets 9 fall from the second area A2 of the transport belt 22 through the unloading chute 81 to the upper surface of the unloading conveyor 82. Then, the dropped tablets 9 are carried out of the tablet printing apparatus 1 by the carry-out conveyor 82.

  The control unit 90 is means for controlling the operation of each unit in the tablet printing apparatus 1. FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing the connection between the control unit 90 and each unit in the tablet printing apparatus 1. As conceptually shown in FIG. 8, the control unit 90 is constituted by a computer having a processor 91 such as a CPU, a memory 92 such as a RAM, and a storage unit 93 such as a hard disk drive. In the storage unit 93, a computer program CP for executing print processing is installed.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the control unit 90 includes the above-described loading mechanism 10 (including the alignment mechanism and the loading drum 11), the annular transfer mechanism 20 (transfer motor 23, suction mechanism 24, first blow mechanism 25, And the second blow mechanism 26), the printing unit 30 (including the four heads 31), the first camera 40, the second camera 50, the drying mechanism 60, the reversing mechanism 70 (the first motor 73, the second motor 74, And a suction mechanism), and a delivery mechanism 80 (including a delivery conveyor 82), respectively, in a wired or wireless communication manner. The control unit 90 temporarily reads the computer program CP and data stored in the storage unit 93 into the memory 92, and the processor 91 performs operation processing based on the computer program CP to control the operation of the above-described units. Do. Thus, the printing process on the plurality of tablets 9 proceeds.

<2. About the flow of processing>
Then, the flow of the printing process using said tablet printing apparatus 1 is demonstrated. Below, the process performed with respect to one certain tablet 9 is demonstrated in order. However, in the tablet printing apparatus 1, the plurality of tablets 9 are processed while being sequentially conveyed, and the plurality of tablets 9 are present at the same time inside the tablet printing apparatus 1.

  FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the flow of the printing process in the tablet printing apparatus 1. FIG. 10 is a view showing a state of conveyance of the tablet 9 (conveyance of the tablet 9 in the first area A1) in steps S1 to S6 of FIG. FIG. 11 is a view showing a state of conveyance of the tablet 9 (conveyance of the tablet 9 in the second area A2) in steps S6 to S11 of FIG.

  When the tablet 9 is loaded into the tablet printing apparatus 1, first, the loading mechanism 10 loads the tablet 9 into the annular transport mechanism 20 (step S1). The tablets 9 carried in are adsorbed and held in the suction holes 221 of the first area A1 of the transport belt 22. Then, along with the rotation of the conveyance belt 22, the tablets 9 are conveyed along the annular conveyance path.

  Hereinafter, the surface facing the outside of the tablet 9 in the state of being held by the suction holes 221 of the first area A1 will be referred to as the “first surface”. In addition, in the state, the surface adsorbed by the adsorption holes 221 is referred to as a “second surface”. In FIGS. 2 and 3, the first surface of the tablet 9 is hatched in order to distinguish the first surface from the second surface. However, the “first surface” and the “second surface” are irrelevant to the original front and back surfaces of the tablet 9. For example, in the case where the tablet 9 is a dividing line tablet, among the plurality of tablets 9 held in the first area A1, the tablet 9 whose surface having the dividing line is the first surface and the surface having no dividing line is the first surface And the tablet 9 which becomes may be mixed.

  When the tablet 9 reaches below the first camera 40, the first camera 40 captures an image of the first surface of the tablet 9. Thereby, the image data of the first surface of the tablet 9 is acquired. The acquired image data is transmitted from the first camera 40 to the control unit 90. Further, the control unit 90 performs a pre-printing inspection of the first surface based on the image data received from the first camera 40 (step S2). Specifically, the presence or absence of the tablet 9 in the suction hole 221, the front and back of the tablet 9, the rotational posture around the vertical axis of the tablet 9, the positional deviation of the tablet 9 with respect to the suction hole 221, the presence or absence of the shape defect of the tablet 9, etc. Be done.

  Next, when the tablet 9 reaches the lower side of the printing unit 30, the four heads 31 eject ink droplets toward the first surface of the tablet 9. Thereby, an image is printed on the first surface of the tablet 9 (step S3). At this time, the control unit 90 adjusts the image to be printed on each tablet 9 based on the inspection result of step S2 described above. For example, of the image for the front surface and the image for the back surface, an appropriate image is selected according to the front and back of each tablet 9, and the selected image is rotated according to the rotation posture of each tablet 9. Then, a print signal is input to the head 31 based on the adjusted image. As a result, an appropriate image is printed on the first surface of each tablet 9 in an appropriate posture.

  Subsequently, when the tablet 9 reaches below the second camera 50, the second camera 50 captures an image of the first surface of the tablet 9. Thereby, the image data of the first surface of the tablet 9 is acquired. The acquired image data is transmitted from the second camera 50 to the control unit 90. Further, the control unit 90 performs a post-printing inspection of the first surface based on the image data received from the second camera 50 (step S4). Specifically, for example, the control unit 90 is printed on the first surface of each tablet 9 by comparing the image data received from the second camera 50 with the data of the normal image prepared in advance. It is determined whether the image is normal.

  Subsequently, when the tablet 9 reaches the position of the drying mechanism 60, the drying mechanism 60 blows hot air toward the first surface of the tablet 9. Thereby, the ink adhering to the first surface of the tablet 9 is dried, and the ink is fixed on the first surface (step S5).

  Thereafter, when the tablet 9 reaches the reverse position, the reversing mechanism 70 moves the position in the width direction of the tablet 9 and reverses the front and back of the tablet 9 (step S6). Specifically, first, the first inclined drum 71 rotates while adsorbing and holding the tablet 9 delivered from the first area A1 and delivers the tablet 9 to the second inclined drum 72. Then, the second inclined drum 72 rotates while adsorbing and holding the tablet 9 received from the first inclined drum 71, and delivers the tablet 9 to the second area A2. Thereby, the tablets 9 move from the first area A1 to the second area A2 of the transport belt 22. Further, the tablet 9 is adsorbed and held by the suction holes 221 of the second area A2 in a posture in which the second surface is directed outward.

  Subsequently, when the tablet 9 reaches below the first camera 40, the first camera 40 captures an image of the second surface of the tablet 9. Thereby, the image data of the second surface of the tablet 9 is acquired. The acquired image data is transmitted from the first camera 40 to the control unit 90. Further, the control unit 90 performs a pre-printing inspection on the second surface based on the image data received from the first camera 40 (step S7). Specifically, the presence or absence of the tablet 9 in the suction hole 221, the front and back of the tablet 9, the rotational posture around the vertical axis of the tablet 9, the positional deviation of the tablet 9 with respect to the suction hole 221, the presence or absence of the shape defect of the tablet 9, etc. Be done.

  Next, when the tablet 9 reaches the lower side of the printing unit 30, the four heads 31 discharge ink droplets toward the second surface of the tablet 9. Thereby, an image is printed on the second surface of the tablet 9 (step S8). At this time, the control unit 90 adjusts the image to be printed on each tablet 9 based on the inspection result of step S7 described above. For example, of the image for the front surface and the image for the back surface, an appropriate image is selected according to the front and back of each tablet 9, and the selected image is rotated according to the rotation posture of each tablet 9. Then, a print signal is input to the head 31 based on the adjusted image. As a result, an appropriate image is printed on the third surface of each tablet 9 in an appropriate posture.

  Subsequently, when the tablet 9 reaches the lower side of the second camera 50, the second camera 50 captures an image of the second surface of the tablet 9. Thereby, the image data of the second surface of the tablet 9 is acquired. The acquired image data is transmitted from the second camera 50 to the control unit 90. Further, the control unit 90 performs a post-printing inspection of the second surface based on the image data received from the second camera 50 (step S9). Specifically, for example, the control unit 90 is printed on the second surface of each tablet 9 by comparing the image data received from the second camera 50 with the data of the normal image prepared in advance. It is determined whether the image is normal.

  Subsequently, when the tablet 9 reaches the position of the drying mechanism 60, the drying mechanism 60 blows hot air toward the second surface of the tablet 9. Thereby, the ink adhering to the second surface of the tablet 9 is dried, and the ink is fixed on the second surface (step S10).

  Thereafter, when the tablets 9 reach the position of the discharge chute 81, the tablets 9 fall from the transport belt 22 through the discharge chute 81 to the discharge conveyor 82. Then, the tablets 9 are carried out of the tablet printing apparatus 1 by the carry-out conveyor 82 (step S11).

  As described above, the tablet printing apparatus 1 transports the tablets 9 along the annular transport path. Then, in a part of the transport path, the front and back of the tablet 9 is reversed, and the position in the width direction of the tablet 9 is moved. Therefore, on both sides of the tablet 9, each process of photographing by the first camera 40, printing by the printing unit 30, photographing by the second camera 50, and drying by the drying mechanism 60 is performed at the same position in the transport direction. it can. Therefore, the number of parts of the tablet printing apparatus 1 can be reduced as compared with the case where these processes for the first surface and those for the second surface are performed at different positions. Moreover, the tablet printing apparatus 1 can be miniaturized.

  In particular, in the present embodiment, using the first inclined drum 71 and the second inclined drum 72, the inversion of the front and back of the tablet 9 and the movement in the width direction are realized. According to this mechanism, it is possible to perform the inversion of the front and back of the tablet 9 and the movement in the width direction without changing the position in the transport direction. Therefore, the length in the transport direction required for the reversing mechanism 70 can be suppressed. Thereby, the tablet printing apparatus 1 can be further miniaturized.

<3. Modified example>
As mentioned above, although the main embodiment of the present invention was described, the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment.

<3-1. First Modified Example>
In the above embodiment, the reversing mechanism 70 reverses the front and back of the tablet 9 and moves the position of the tablet 9 in the width direction. However, the reversing mechanism 70 may reverse the front and back of the tablet 9 without moving the position of the tablet 9 in the width direction. FIG. 12 is a side view of the tablet printing device 1 provided with such a reversing mechanism 70. As shown in FIG. In the example of FIG. 12, the first blow mechanism 25 and the reversing mechanism 70 are provided at the reverse position on the downstream side of the transport path with respect to the drying mechanism 60 and on the upstream side of the transport path with respect to the discharge chute 81.

  In this example, the tablets 9 before inversion and the tablets 9 after inversion are alternately arranged three by three in the conveyance direction on the holding surface 220 of the conveyance belt 22. In FIG. 12, the tablet 9 before inversion is hatched. The first blow mechanism 25 blows a gas toward the tablet 9 when the tablet 9 before the inversion reaches the reverse position. Thus, among the plurality of tablets 9 conveyed while being held by the conveyance belt 22, only the tablets 9 before being inverted are delivered to the inversion mechanism 70.

  The reversing mechanism 70 of FIG. 12 has the same configuration as the reversing mechanism 70 of the above embodiment. However, in the example of FIG. 12, the 1st inclination drum 71 and the 2nd inclination drum 72 are adjacently arranged by the conveyance direction. Therefore, the reversing mechanism 70 that receives the tablets 9 from the transport belt 22 moves the tablets 9 in the transport direction while reversing the front and back of the tablets 9. Then, the tablet 9 after being reversed is delivered to the suction holes 220 of the transport belt 22. The suction holes 220 for holding the tablet 9 after the inversion may be the same suction holes 220 as the suction holes 220 holding the tablet 9 before the inversion, or the suction holes 220 at different positions in the transport direction It may be.

  Even in such a configuration, in one annular conveyance mechanism 20, both sides of the tablet 9 are photographed by the first camera 40, printed by the printing unit 30, photographed by the second camera 50, and dried by the drying mechanism 60. , Each process can be performed. Therefore, the number of parts of the tablet printing apparatus 1 can be reduced as compared with the case where these processes for the first surface and those for the second surface are performed in separate annular transport mechanisms. Moreover, the tablet printing apparatus 1 can be miniaturized.

<3-2. Second Modified Example>
The 1st inclination drum 71 and the 2nd inclination drum 72 of said embodiment had the adsorption | suction hole 711 and 721 which are several small holes. However, as shown in FIG. 13, the first inclined drum 71 may have, on the first side surface 710, an annular suction slit 712 centered on the first axis C1. In addition, the second inclined drum 72 may have an annular suction slit 722 on the second side surface 720 centered on the second axis C2. Then, the plurality of tablets 9 may be adsorbed and held by the suction slits 712 and 722. In this way, the tablet 9 can be held by suction at any position of the suction slits 712, 722. Therefore, even when the tablet 9 has some displacement, the tablet 9 can be adsorbed and held.

  However, as in the above-described embodiment, when the tablets 9 are adsorbed and held by the small adsorption holes 711 and 721, there is an advantage that positional deviation of the tablets 9 after adsorption is less likely to occur.

<3-3. Third Modified Example>
In the above embodiment, the apex angle of the first inclined drum 71 and the apex angle of the second inclined drum 72 when viewed in the transport direction are both 90 °. However, the apex angle of the first inclined drum 71 and the apex angle of the second inclined drum 72 may not necessarily be 90 °. However, when it is desired to move the tablet 9 while reversing the same holding surface 220, the sum of the apex angle of the first inclined drum 71 and the apex angle of the second inclined drum 72 when viewed in the transport direction is And 180 ° are preferable. For example, the apex angle of the first inclined drum 71 when viewed in the transport direction may be 60 °, and the apex angle of the second inclined drum 72 when viewed in the transport direction may be 120 °.

<3-4. Fourth Modified Example>
In the above embodiment, the first side surface 710 of the first inclined drum 71 is a conical surface centered on the first axis C1. The second side surface 720 of the second inclined drum 72 was a conical surface centered on the second axis C2. However, the first side 710 and the second side 720 may be polygonal pyramidal surfaces such as a quadrangular pyramid, a hexagonal pyramid, an octagonal pyramid, and the like.

<3-5. Fifth modified example>
In the above embodiment, the holding surface 220 of the conveyance belt 22 is divided into the first area A1 and the second area A2 with the center in the width direction as the boundary. However, the positional relationship between the first area A1 and the second area A2 may not necessarily be as described above. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 14, a plurality of first areas A1 and a plurality of second areas A2 may be provided on the holding surface 220 of the conveyance belt 22. The first area A1 and the second area A2 may be alternately arranged in the width direction. In this case, a plurality of reversing mechanisms may be provided to move the tablet 9 while reversing from the first area A1 to the second area A2.

<3-6. Other Modifications>
Further, the reversing mechanism 70 of the above embodiment has the first inclined drum 71 and the second inclined drum 72. However, the reversing mechanism 70 may realize reversing of the front and back of the tablet 9 and movement in the width direction by another mechanism. For example, the tablet 9 is sequentially transferred from the transfer belt 22 to the other two transfer belts, and transferred to the transfer belt 22 again, thereby reversing the front and back of the tablet 9 and positioning the tablet 9 in the width direction. You may move

  Further, in the above embodiment, four heads 31 are provided in the printing unit 30. However, the number of heads 31 included in the printing unit 30 may be one to three, or five or more.

  Further, the tablet printing apparatus 1 according to the above-described embodiment is a processing unit that processes the tablets 9 on the conveyance path of the annular conveyance mechanism 20, the printing unit 30, the first camera 40, the second camera 50, and the drying mechanism 60. Was equipped. However, the tablet printing apparatus 1 may include only a part of these processing units. Moreover, the tablet printing apparatus 1 may be equipped with the other process part.

  In addition, the configuration of details in the apparatus may be different from the respective drawings of the present application. In addition, each element appearing in the above-described embodiment and modification may be combined appropriately as long as no contradiction occurs.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 tablet printing apparatus 9 tablet 10 carrying-in mechanism 20 cyclic conveyance mechanism 22 conveyance belt 30 printing part 31 head 40 1st camera 50 2nd camera 60 drying mechanism 70 inversion mechanism 71 1st inclination drum 72 2nd inclination drum 73 1st motor 74 Second motor 80 unloading mechanism 90 control unit 220 holding surface 221 suction hole 710 first side 711 suction hole 712 suction slit 720 second side 721 suction hole 722 suction hole A1 first region A2 second region C2 first axis C2 second axis

Claims (13)

A particulate matter processing apparatus for performing predetermined processing on the surface of a particulate matter, comprising:
An annular conveyance mechanism that conveys the particulate matter along an annular conveyance path while adsorbing and holding the particulate matter;
A processing unit that performs the predetermined processing on the surface of the particulate matter at a processing position on the transport path of the annular transport mechanism;
A reversing mechanism for reversing the front and back of the particulate matter at the reversing position on the transport path of the annular transport mechanism and moving the position in the width direction of the particulate matter in the transport path ;
Bei to give a,
The reversing mechanism is
A first inclined drum having a conical or pyramidal first side surface centered on a first axis inclined with respect to the width direction;
A second inclined drum adjacent to the first inclined drum in the width direction and having a conical or pyramidal second side surface centered on a second axis inclined with respect to the width direction;
Have
The first inclined drum rotates while adsorbing and holding the particulate matter delivered from the annular conveyance mechanism to the first side surface, and delivers the particulate matter to the second inclined drum.
The particulate material processing device , wherein the second inclined drum rotates while holding the particulate matter delivered from the first inclined drum on the second side, and delivers the particulate matter to the annular conveyance mechanism . The particulate matter processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein
The annular transport mechanism rotates, along the transport path, a holding surface in which a plurality of suction holes for sucking and holding particulate matter are arranged in the width direction.
The holding surface has a first area and a second area adjacent in the width direction,
The particulate matter processing device, wherein the reversing mechanism moves the particulate matter held by the adsorption holes of the first region to the adsorption holes of the second region. The particulate matter processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein
The particulate matter processing device, wherein the sum of the apex angle of the first inclined drum and the apex angle of the second inclined drum when viewed in the conveyance direction of the annular conveyance mechanism is 180 °. The particulate matter processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein
The particulate matter processing device according to claim 1, wherein the apex angle of the first inclined drum and the apex angle of the second inclined drum when viewed in the conveyance direction of the annular conveyance mechanism are both 90 °. The particulate matter processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein
A particulate matter processing device, wherein the first inclined drum and the second inclined drum have the same shape and size. The particulate matter processing device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein
The first inclined drum has, on the first side surface, a plurality of suction holes arranged in an annular shape around the first axis,
The second inclined drum has, on the second side surface, a plurality of suction holes arranged in an annular shape centering on the second axis,
A particulate matter processing device, wherein particulate matter is adsorbed and held one by one in the plurality of adsorption holes. The particulate matter processing device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein
The first inclined drum has, on the first side surface, an annular suction slit centered on the first axis,
The second inclined drum has, on the second side surface, an annular suction slit centered on the second axis,
A particulate matter processing device, wherein a plurality of particulate matter are adsorbed and held by the adsorption slit. The particulate matter processing device according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein
The particulate matter processing device, wherein the adsorptive power of particulates on the second side is larger than the adsorptive power of particulates on the first side. A particulate matter processing apparatus for performing predetermined processing on the surface of a particulate matter, comprising:
An annular conveyance mechanism that conveys the particulate matter along an annular conveyance path while adsorbing and holding the particulate matter;
A processing unit that performs the predetermined processing on the surface of the particulate matter at a processing position on the transport path of the annular transport mechanism;
A reversing mechanism for reversing the front and back of the particulate matter at the reversing position on the transport path of the annular transport mechanism and moving the position of the particulate matter in the transport direction in the transport path;
Equipped with
The reversing mechanism is
A first inclined drum having a conical or pyramidal first side surface centered on a first axis inclined with respect to the transport direction;
A second inclined drum adjacent to the first inclined drum in the transport direction and having a conical or pyramidal second side surface centered on a second axis inclined with respect to the transport direction;
Have
The first inclined drum rotates while adsorbing and holding the particulate matter delivered from the annular conveyance mechanism to the first side surface, and delivers the particulate matter to the second inclined drum.
The particulate material processing device, wherein the second inclined drum rotates while holding the particulate matter delivered from the first inclined drum on the second side, and delivers the particulate matter to the annular conveyance mechanism. The particulate matter processing device according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein
The processing unit is
Printing unit that performs printing using inkjet method on the surface of particulate matter
Granule processing equipment including. The particulate matter processing device according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein
The processing unit is
Camera to shoot the surface of granular material
Granule processing equipment including. The particulate matter processing device according to any one of claims 1 to 11, wherein
The particulate matter processing device, wherein the particulate matter is a tablet. A particulate matter processing method for performing predetermined processing on the surface of a particulate matter, the method comprising:
a) loading the particulate matter into the annular transport path;
b) after the step a), carrying the predetermined treatment on the first surface of the granular material at the treatment position on the conveyance route while conveying the granular material along the conveyance route;
c) after the step b), reversing the front and back of the particulates at the reverse position on the transport path and moving the widthwise position of the particulates in the transport path;
d) after the step c), carrying the predetermined treatment on the second surface of the granular material at the treatment position while conveying the granular material along the conveyance path;
e) carrying out the particulate matter from the transport path after the step d);
Have
In the step c), the first inclined drum having a conical or pyramidal first side surface centered on the first axis inclined with respect to the width direction, and the first inclined drum adjacent to the width direction Using the second inclined drum having a conical or pyramidal second side surface centered on the second axis inclined with respect to the width direction, the first inclined drum is transferred from the annular conveyance mechanism in the first inclined drum The particulate matter to be conveyed is rotated while being held by suction on the first side, and delivered to the second inclined drum, and the particulate matter delivered from the first inclined drum in the second inclined drum is A particulate matter processing method, wherein the particulate matter is rotated while being held by suction on the second side, and the particulate matter is delivered to the annular conveyance mechanism.

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