JP7221151B2 - inspection equipment - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an inspection device.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an inspection apparatus is known that inspects an inspection object while transporting it with a transport apparatus. Such an inspection device is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2002-200013.

The tablet printing apparatus (inspection apparatus) described in Patent Literature 1 prints on the surface of a tablet as an inspection object, and also images the printed tablet for inspection. The tablet printing apparatus described in Patent Document 1 includes a conveying mechanism that applies negative pressure to a plurality of suction units to adsorb and hold the tablet while conveying it, a printing unit that ejects ink droplets on the surface of the tablet, and a printing unit. A print inspection camera placed downstream, a defective product determination unit that determines target tablets to be collected based on the captured image, and a positive pressure acting on the suction unit that holds the target tablets to suck the tablets. A defective printing product recovery blow mechanism to be released and a defective printing product recovery box arranged below the defective printing product recovery blow mechanism are provided. The defective print product blowing mechanism applies a positive pressure higher than the atmospheric pressure only to some of the suction portions that hold the target tablets, and releases the suction of the target tablets that are held by the suction portions. As a result, the target tablet is collected into the defective printing product collection box.

By the way, in the tablet printing apparatus as described in Patent Document 1, there is known a case where an interlock mechanism is provided in order to improve the operator's safety. Specifically, the interlock mechanism locks the maintenance door on the side of the device in the closed position while the tablet printing device is in operation so that the operator cannot access the interior of the device.

JP 2019-72497 A

However, when the tablet printing apparatus is configured to include the interlock mechanism as described above, the operator cannot check the actual tablets collected in the defective printing product collection box unless the operation of the tablet printing apparatus is stopped. , was unfavorable. In other words, there is a need for an operator to be able to check the inside of the defective print collection box even while the tablet printing apparatus is in operation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to enable an operator to check the condition of a defective product by looking at the actual product during operation of the apparatus.

The problems to be solved by the present invention are as described above, and the means for solving the problems will now be described.

A first aspect of the present application provides an inspection apparatus that inspects an object to be inspected while being transported by a transport apparatus. This inspection device has a defective product storage unit, a guide unit, an opening/closing member, and an interlock mechanism that is arranged on the side surface of the inspection device and can be opened when the transport device is stopped. a door ; The defective product storage unit stores defective products determined to be defective as a result of inspection among the inspection objects. The guide portion has a guide passage for guiding the defective product from the conveying device to the defective product storage portion. The opening/closing member can change its posture between an open posture in which the downstream end of the guide passage is open and a closed posture in which the downstream end of the guide passage is closed. In this inspection device, the door is smaller than the entire side surface of the inspection device and has a small window portion from which the defective product storage portion can be pulled out. is in the closed posture, at least a portion of the defective storage section can be exposed to the outside of the inspection device through the small window .

According to a second aspect of the present application, the inspection apparatus according to the first aspect further includes a mounting table on which the defective product storage section is mounted.

According to a third aspect of the present application, in the inspection apparatus according to the first aspect or the second aspect , the defective product storage unit is arranged upstream of the defective product storage unit in a direction in which the defective product storage unit is pulled out, and the defective product storage unit It further comprises a closure member that moves with the part.

According to a fourth aspect of the present application, in the inspection apparatus according to the third aspect, the closing member overlaps the entire window of the small window portion when viewed in the direction in which the defective product storage section is pulled out.

According to a fifth aspect of the present application, in the inspection apparatus according to the first aspect or the second aspect , the opening/closing member is centered on a rotating shaft extending in a direction perpendicular to and horizontal to the drawing direction of the defective product storage section. can be rotated as

According to a sixth aspect of the present application, the inspection device according to the fifth aspect includes a closing member and a roller. The closing member is arranged upstream of the defective product storage unit in a direction in which the defective product storage unit is pulled out, and moves together with the defective product storage unit. The roller is supported by the closing member so as to be rotatable about a rotating shaft extending in a direction perpendicular to and horizontal to the pull-out direction. The roller contacts the opening/closing member.

According to a seventh aspect of the present application, the inspection apparatus according to any one of the first to sixth aspects includes a conveying device, a printing unit, a print inspection camera, and a defective product determination unit. The conveying device conveys a tablet, which is an object to be inspected. The printing unit prints on the surface of the tablet. The print inspection camera images the printed tablet. The defective product determination unit determines whether or not the print result is defective based on the captured image.

According to the first to seventh aspects of the present application, the operator can check the condition of the defective product by looking at the actual product during operation of the apparatus.

In particular, according to the first aspect of the present application, it is possible to expose at least a portion of the defective storage section to the outside of the apparatus while the opening/closing member receives defective items within the guide section while the conveying apparatus is in operation. Therefore, the operator can check the condition of the defective product by looking at the actual product during operation of the apparatus.

In particular, according to the first aspect of the present application, it becomes easy for the operator to take out the defective product from the apparatus.

In particular, according to the first aspect of the present application, the operator can easily and safely access the defective storage unit by opening a small window on the side of the inspection device.

In particular, according to the second aspect of the present application, for example, when there are a plurality of defective product storage units, the multiple defective product storage units can be pulled out together with the mounting table at once, thereby improving operability.

In particular, according to the third aspect of the present application, by arranging the blocking member on the upstream side of the defective product storage unit in the drawing direction, it is possible to prevent the operator from accessing the conveying device when the defective product storage unit is drawn out. can be prevented.

In particular, according to the fourth aspect of the present application, it is possible to more effectively prevent the operator from accessing the conveying device when pulling out the defective storage unit.

In particular, according to the fifth aspect of the present application, it becomes easy to interlock the withdrawal operation of the defective product storage section and the change in the posture of the opening/closing member.

In particular, according to the sixth aspect of the present application, by integrally pulling out the defective product storage section and the closing member, the opening/closing member can be switched from the open posture to the closed posture by causing the roller to act on the opening/closing member. .

In particular, according to the seventh aspect of the present application, the operator can visually check the condition of the tablets determined as defective and collected in the defective storage unit while printing the tablets.

It is a figure showing a schematic structure of a tablet printing device. It is a perspective view near the conveyance drum of a tablet printing apparatus. It is the figure which showed the structure of the 2nd conveyance conveyor vicinity of a tablet printing apparatus. It is a bottom view of the head of the tablet printing apparatus. It is a block diagram showing the connection between each unit in the tablet printing apparatus and the control unit. It is the figure which showed the structure of the side surface of one side of the width direction of a tablet printing apparatus. It is a side view of a defective goods storage part. FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of the defective product collection unit taken along line AA in FIG. 7, showing a state before the defective product storage unit is pulled out; FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of the defective product recovery unit taken along line AA in FIG. 7, showing a state when the defective product storage unit is pulled out;

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following description, the direction in which a plurality of tablets are conveyed is called "conveying direction", and the direction perpendicular and horizontal to the conveying direction is called "width direction".

<1. Overall configuration of tablet printing device>
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of a tablet printing apparatus 1 which is an embodiment of an inspection apparatus according to the present invention. This tablet printing apparatus 1 conveys a plurality of tablets 9, which are inspection objects according to the present invention, and prints images such as product names, product codes, company names, and logo marks on the surface of each tablet 9. It is a device that prints

As shown in FIG. 1, the tablet printing apparatus 1 of this embodiment has a supply mechanism 20, a transport mechanism 30, a printing unit 40, an inspection mechanism 50, a collection unit 60 and a control unit 10.

The feeding mechanism 20 has a hopper 21 , a straight feeder 22 , a rotary feeder 23 and an inclined feeder 24 . The feeding mechanism 20 is a mechanism for transferring the tablets 9 put into the device to the conveying mechanism 30 .

The hopper 21 is an input section for collectively receiving a large number of tablets 9 into the apparatus. The hopper 21 is arranged at the top of the housing 100 of the tablet printing apparatus 1 . The hopper 21 has an opening 211 positioned on the upper surface of the housing 100 and a funnel-shaped inclined surface 212 that gradually converges downward. A plurality of tablets 9 thrown into opening 211 flow into rectilinear feeder 22 along inclined surface 212 .

The linear feeder 22 , rotary feeder 23 and inclined feeder 24 are mechanisms for conveying a plurality of tablets 9 put into the hopper 21 to the conveying mechanism 30 . The rectilinear feeder 22 has a vibrating trough 221 in the form of a flat plate. A plurality of tablets 9 supplied from the hopper 21 to the vibrating trough 221 are conveyed to the rotary feeder 23 side by vibration of the vibrating trough 221 .

The rotary feeder 23 has a disk-shaped turntable 231 . A plurality of tablets 9 dropped from the vibrating trough 221 onto the upper surface of the turntable 231 gather near the outer periphery of the turntable 231 due to the centrifugal force caused by the rotation of the turntable 231 .

The inclined feeder 24 has a plate-like slope 241 extending obliquely downward from the outer peripheral portion of the turntable 231 to the transport drum 31 of the transport mechanism 30, which will be described later. FIG. 2 is a perspective view including a portion of the inclined feeder 24, a portion of the transport drum 31, and a portion of the first transport conveyor 32. FIG. As shown in FIG. 2, a plurality of (eight in the example of FIG. 2) conveying grooves 242 are provided on the upper surface of the slope 241 . A plurality of tablets 9 conveyed to the outer peripheral portion of the turntable 231 are each supplied to one of the plurality of conveying grooves 242 and run obliquely downward along the conveying grooves 242 . In this way, a plurality of tablets 9 are distributed and supplied to a plurality of conveying grooves 242, thereby being arranged in a plurality of conveying rows. A plurality of tablets 9 in each conveying row are supplied to the conveying drum 31 in order from the top tablet.

The transport mechanism 30 has a transport drum 31 , a first transport conveyor (transport device) 32 , a second transport conveyor (transport device) 33 and an unloading conveyor 34 .

The transport drum 31 is a mechanism that delivers the plurality of tablets 9 from the inclined feeder 24 to the first transport conveyor 32 . The transport drum 31 has a substantially cylindrical outer peripheral surface. The conveying drum 31 rotates in the direction of the arrow in FIGS. 1 and 2 about a rotating shaft extending in the width direction by power obtained from a motor (not shown). As shown in FIG. 2, on the outer peripheral surface of the transport drum 31, a plurality of suction units 310 are provided that are arranged at approximately equal intervals in the transport direction and the width direction. A plurality of suction units 310 are arranged on the outer peripheral surface of the transport drum 31 at positions in the width direction corresponding to each of the transport grooves 242 of the inclined feeder 24 .

Each of the adsorption portions 310 is a through hole provided on the surface of the conveying drum 31 . FIG. 3 is a partial schematic diagram showing the configuration of the transport drum 31, part of the first transport conveyor 32, and the second transport conveyor 33. As shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 3, a suction mechanism 311 is provided inside the transport drum 31 . When the suction mechanism 311 is operated, a negative pressure lower than atmospheric pressure is generated in each of the plurality of suction units 310 . The suction unit 310 sucks and holds the tablets 9 supplied from the inclined feeder 24 one by one by the negative pressure.

A release blow mechanism 312 is provided inside the transport drum 31 . The release blow mechanism 312 blows locally pressurized gas from the inside of the transport drum 31 toward the first transport conveyor 32 side. The releasing blow mechanism 312 applies a positive pressure higher than the atmospheric pressure to the adsorption section 310 arranged at a position facing the first conveyor 32 to release the adsorption of the tablet 9 in the adsorption section 310 .

As a result, the tablets 9 are kept adsorbed in the adsorption units 310 arranged at positions not facing the first conveyer 32 , while the tablets 9 are adsorbed only in the adsorption units 310 facing the first conveyer 32 . is released. The conveying drum 31 thus rotates while sucking and holding the plurality of tablets 9 supplied from the inclined feeder 24 and delivers the tablets 9 to the first conveyer 32 .

Here, the surface that is adsorbed by the adsorption unit 310 while the tablet 9 is adsorbed and held by the transport drum 31 is referred to as the first surface. On the other hand, the surface opposite to the first surface is called the second surface. That is, the surface that is exposed to the outside while the tablet 9 is adsorbed and held by the conveying drum 31 is referred to as the second surface. When the tablets 9 are delivered from the transport drum 31 to the first transport conveyor 32 , the second surfaces of the tablets 9 face the first transport conveyor 32 . Therefore, the second surface of the tablet 9 is attracted to the first conveyer 32 . Therefore, the first surfaces of the tablets 9 are exposed to the outside while being adsorbed and held by the first conveyer 32 . In this way, the front and back of the tablet 9 is reversed between the time it is sucked and held by the conveying drum 31 and the time it is sucked and held by the first conveyer 32 .

The first transport conveyor 32 has a pair of pulleys 321 , a transport belt 322 and a suction mechanism 323 . The conveying belt 322 is looped between the pair of pulleys 321 . A portion of the transport belt 322 is arranged to face the outer peripheral surface of the transport drum 31 in close proximity. One of the pair of pulleys 321 is rotated by power obtained from a motor (not shown). As a result, the conveyor belt 322 rotates in the direction of the arrow in FIGS. At this time, the other of the pair of pulleys 321 rotates following the rotation of the conveying belt 322 .

In addition, as shown in FIG. 2, the transport belt 322 is provided with a plurality of suction units 320 . The plurality of adsorption portions 320 are through holes provided on the surface of the transport belt 322 , similar to the adsorption portions 310 of the transport drum 31 . The multiple suction units 320 are arranged in the transport direction at positions in the width direction corresponding to each of the multiple transport rows. The distances between the suction portions 320 on the conveying belt 322 in the conveying direction and the width direction are equal to the distances between the attracting portions 310 on the conveying drum 31 in the conveying direction and the width direction.

As shown in FIG. 3 , the first transport conveyor 32 has a suction mechanism 323 . The suction mechanism 323 creates negative pressure in the space inside the pulley 321 and the conveyor belt 322 . When the suction mechanism 323 is operated, a negative pressure lower than the atmospheric pressure is generated in each of the plurality of suction portions 320 . The suction unit 320 sucks and holds the tablets 9 handed over from the conveying drum 31 one by one by the negative pressure. Thereby, the first transport conveyor 32 transports the plurality of tablets 9 while being aligned in the transport direction and the width direction.

Further, the first transport conveyor 32 is provided with a release blow mechanism 324 shown in FIG. The release blow mechanism 324 blows locally pressurized gas from the inside of the conveyor belt 322 toward the second conveyor 33 . The releasing blow mechanism 324 applies a positive pressure higher than the atmospheric pressure to the adsorption section 320 arranged at a position facing the second conveyor 33 to release the adsorption of the tablet 9 in the adsorption section 320 . As a result, the adsorption of the tablets 9 by the adsorption unit 320 is released, and the tablets 9 are transferred from the first conveyor 32 to the second conveyor 33 .

Here, while the tablets 9 are adsorbed and held by the first conveyer 32, the second surfaces of the tablets 9 are adsorbed by the adsorption unit 320, and the first surfaces of the tablets 9 are exposed to the outside. When the tablets 9 are transferred from the first conveyer 32 to the second conveyer 33 , the first surfaces of the tablets 9 face the second conveyer 33 . Therefore, the first surface of the tablet 9 is attracted to the second conveyer 33 . Therefore, the second surface of the tablet 9 is exposed to the outside while being adsorbed and held by the second conveyer 33 . In this way, the front and back of the tablet 9 is reversed between the time it is sucked and held by the first conveyer 32 and the time it is sucked and held by the second conveyer 33 .

The second transport conveyor 33 has a pair of pulleys 331 , a transport belt 332 having a plurality of suction units 330 , and a suction mechanism 333 . The pair of pulleys 331, the conveyor belt 332, and the suction mechanism 333 of the second conveyor 33 have the same configuration as the pair of pulleys 321, the conveyor belt 322, and the suction mechanism 323 of the first conveyor 32, so description thereof is omitted. .

As shown in FIG. 3, the second transport conveyor 33 is provided with a discharge blow mechanism 334 . A chute 341 that connects the second transport conveyor 33 and the unloading conveyor 34 is arranged below the discharge blow mechanism 334 . The discharge blow mechanism 334 blows locally pressurized gas from the inner side of the conveying belt 332 toward the chute 341 side. The ejection blow mechanism 334 applies a positive pressure higher than the atmospheric pressure to all the suction units 330 arranged at a predetermined position facing the chute 341 to release the suction of the tablets 9 in the suction units 330. . As a result, the adsorption of the tablets 9 by the adsorption section 330 is released, and the tablets 9 are transferred from the second transport conveyor 33 to the discharge conveyor 34 .

The carry-out conveyor 34 is a mechanism for carrying out a plurality of printed tablets 9 to the outside of the housing 100 of the tablet printing apparatus 1 . The upstream end of the carry-out conveyor 34 is positioned below the chute 341 . A downstream end of the unloading conveyor 34 is located outside the housing 100 . A downstream end of the unloading conveyor 34 is connected to, for example, a packaging device that packages the tablets 9 after printing. A belt conveying mechanism, for example, is used for the carry-out conveyor 34 . A plurality of tablets 9 transferred from the second transport conveyor 33 to the carry-out conveyor 34 are carried out of the housing 100 by the carry-out conveyor 34 .

The printing unit 40 has a first printing unit 41 and a second printing unit 42 .

The first printing section 41 is a processing section for printing an image on the first surface of the tablet 9 . The first printing unit 41 is arranged at a position facing the outer surface of the transport belt 322 of the first transport conveyor 32 . As shown in FIG. 1 , the first printing unit 41 is an inkjet head unit having four heads 411 . Each of the four heads 411 ejects ink droplets toward the first surface of the tablet 9 transported by the first transport conveyor 32 . The four heads 411 eject ink droplets of different colors (eg, cyan, magenta, yellow, and black). A multicolor image is recorded on the surface of the tablet 9 by superimposing monochromatic images formed by these respective colors. The ink ejected from each head 411 is edible ink manufactured from raw materials approved by the Japanese Pharmacopoeia, the Food Sanitation Law, and the like.

FIG. 4 is a bottom view of one head 411. FIG. In FIG. 4, the conveyor belt 322 and the plurality of tablets 9 held by the conveyor belt 322 are indicated by two-dot chain lines. As shown enlarged in FIG. 4, a plurality of nozzles 410 capable of ejecting ink droplets are provided on the bottom surface of the head 411 . In this embodiment, a plurality of nozzles 410 are two-dimensionally arranged in the transport direction and width direction on the lower surface of the head 411 . The nozzles 410 are arranged with their positions shifted in the width direction. By arranging the plurality of nozzles 410 two-dimensionally in this manner, the positions of the nozzles 410 in the width direction can be brought closer to each other. However, the plurality of nozzles 410 may be arranged in a row along the width direction.

As a method for ejecting ink droplets from the nozzles 410, for example, a so-called piezo method is used in which a piezoelectric element, which is a piezoelectric element, is deformed by applying voltage to pressurize and eject the ink in the nozzles 410. FIG. The head 411 of this embodiment can switch the size of ink droplets ejected from the nozzles 410 depending on the magnitude of the voltage applied to the piezoelectric element. Specifically, an arbitrary ink droplet can be ejected among four types of ink droplets from "size 1" which is the smallest ink droplet to "size 4" which is the largest ink droplet. However, the sizes of the ink droplets that can be ejected may be 2 to 3 types, or may be 5 or more types. Also, the method of ejecting ink droplets may be a so-called thermal method in which the heater is energized to heat and expand the ink in the nozzle 410 to eject the ink droplets.

The second printing section 42 is a processing section for printing an image on the second surface of the tablet 9 . The second printing unit 42 is arranged at a position facing the outer surface of the transport belt 332 of the second transport conveyor 33 . The second printing unit 42 is an inkjet head unit having four heads 421 . Since the configuration of the second printing unit 42 is the same as that of the first printing unit 41, the description thereof is omitted.

The inspection mechanism 50 includes a first appearance inspection camera 51, a second appearance inspection camera 52, a first print inspection camera 53, a third appearance inspection camera 54, and a second print inspection camera 55, as shown in FIG. and

The first appearance inspection camera 51 is a camera that photographs the second surface of the tablet 9 conveyed by the conveying drum 31 .

The second appearance inspection camera 52 is a camera that photographs the first surface of the tablet 9 transported by the first transport conveyor 32 on the upstream side of the first printing unit 41 . The first print inspection camera 53 is a camera that photographs the first surface of the tablet 9 transported by the first transport conveyor 32 on the downstream side of the first printing unit 41 .

The third visual inspection camera 54 is a camera that photographs the second surface of the tablet 9 transported by the second transport conveyor 33 on the upstream side of the second printing unit 42 . The second print inspection camera 55 is a camera that photographs the second surface of the tablet 9 transported by the second transport conveyor 33 on the downstream side of the second printing unit 42 .

The collecting unit 60 includes a defective printing product collecting unit 61 , an appearance defective product collecting unit 62 , an ejection sensor 63 , and a post-collecting unit 64 .

The defective printing product collection unit 61 has a defective printing product collection blow mechanism 611 and a defective printing product collection box 612 . The defective print collection box 612 is one embodiment of the defective storage unit according to the present invention. The blow mechanism 611 for collecting defective print products is arranged downstream of the second print inspection camera 55 . A poorly printed product recovery box 612 is arranged below the defectively printed product recovery blow mechanism 611 . The defective printing product collection blow mechanism 611 blows locally pressurized gas from the inside of the conveying belt 332 toward the defective printing product collection box 612 side. The blow mechanism 611 for recovering defective print products applies atmospheric pressure to only some of the suction units 330 holding target tablets determined to be defective print products by the control unit 10 based on the images captured by the print inspection cameras 53 and 55 . A higher positive pressure is applied to release the suction of the target tablet as a defective product held by the suction unit 330 . As a result, the target tablet is collected into the defective printing product collection box 612 .

The appearance-defective product recovery section 62 has an appearance-defective product recovery blow mechanism 621 and an appearance-defective product recovery box 622 . The appearance-defective item collection box 622 is an embodiment of the defective item storage section according to the present invention. The defective-appearance-collecting blow mechanism 621 is arranged downstream of the defective-printing-collection unit 61 . Below the appearance-defective product recovery blow mechanism 621, an appearance-defective product recovery box 622 is arranged. The appearance-defective product recovery blow mechanism 621 blows locally pressurized gas from the inside of the conveyor belt 332 toward the appearance-defective product recovery box 622 . The blow mechanism 621 for recovering appearance defective products blows only some of the suction units 330 holding the target tablets judged to be appearance defective products by the control unit 10 based on the images captured by the appearance inspection cameras 51, 52, and 54. A positive pressure higher than the atmospheric pressure is applied to release the suction of the target tablet as a defective product held by the suction unit 330 . As a result, the target tablet is collected to the appearance defective product collection box 622 .

In this embodiment, the defective printing product recovery unit 61 is arranged upstream of the appearance defective product recovery unit 62, but the present invention is not limited to this. The appearance-defective product recovery unit 62 may be arranged upstream of the print-defective product recovery unit 61 .

In addition, in the present embodiment, the tablet printing apparatus 1 has two defective product recovery blow mechanisms, ie, the printing defective product recovery blow mechanism 611 and the appearance defective product recovery blow mechanism 621, but the present invention is based on this. Not limited. The tablet printing apparatus of the present invention may have a single defective product recovery blow mechanism and a defective product storage unit for collectively recovering defective products. 3 or more blow mechanisms for collecting defective products and defective product storage units.

The discharge sensor 63 is arranged downstream of the defective printing product recovery unit 61 and the defective appearance product recovery unit 62 . The discharge sensor 63 is a sensor that irradiates the adsorption portion 330 with a laser and detects the reflected light to detect the distance from the object. The ejection sensor 63 can detect whether or not the tablet 9 is held by each suction portion 330 by detecting the reflection distance.

The post-recovery section 64 is positioned downstream of the defective printing product recovery section 61 and the appearance defective product recovery section 62 . The post-collection section 64 has a post-collection blow mechanism 641 and a post-collection box 642 . The post-recovery blow mechanism 641 is arranged downstream of the discharge sensor 63 . A post-collection box 642 is arranged below the post-collection blow mechanism 641 . The post-recovery blow mechanism 641 blows locally pressurized gas from the inside of the conveyor belt 332 toward the post-recovery box 642 . The post-recovery blow mechanism applies a positive pressure higher than the atmospheric pressure only to the predetermined adsorption section 330 holding the residual tablets specified by the control section 10 based on the detection result of the ejection sensor 63, The suction of the tablet 9 held by the suction portion 330 is released. As a result, the tablet 9 is collected into the post-collection box 642 .

The control unit 10 is means for controlling the operation of each unit in the tablet printing apparatus 1 . FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing connections between the control unit 10 and each unit in the tablet printing apparatus 1. As shown in FIG. As conceptually shown in FIG. 1, the control unit 10 is configured by a computer having an arithmetic processing unit 101 such as a CPU, a memory 102 such as a RAM, and a storage unit 103 such as a hard disk drive. A computer program P for executing print processing is installed in the storage unit 103 .

As shown in FIG. 5, the control unit 10 controls the linear feeder 22, the rotary feeder 23, the transport drum 31 (including the motor, the suction mechanism 311, and the release blow mechanism 312), the first transport conveyor 32 (the motor, the suction mechanism 323). , release blow mechanism 324), second transport conveyor 33 (including motor, suction mechanism 333, discharge blow mechanism 334), discharge conveyor 34, four heads 411 of first printing unit 41, second printing unit 42, four heads 421, first appearance inspection camera 51, second appearance inspection camera 52, first print inspection camera 53, third appearance inspection camera 54, second print inspection camera 55, blow mechanism 611 for collecting defective print products. , the defective-in-appearance product recovery blow mechanism 621, the discharge sensor 63, and the post-recovery blow mechanism 641 are communicably connected.

The control unit 10 temporarily reads the computer program P and data stored in the storage unit 103 to the memory 102, and the arithmetic processing unit 101 performs arithmetic processing based on the computer program P, thereby executing the above units. motion control. As a result, the printing process and inspection process for the plurality of tablets 9 proceed.

That is, the control unit 10 conceptually has an appearance determination unit and a print quality determination unit. The appearance determination section and the print quality determination section are an embodiment of the defective product determination section according to the present invention. Based on the images captured by the cameras 51 to 55, the appearance determination section and the print quality determination section determine target tablets as defective products.

FIG. 6 is a side view of the tablet printing apparatus 1. FIG. As shown in FIG. 6, the tablet printing apparatus 1 of this embodiment has a door 105 that can be opened and closed on one side surface of the housing 100 in the width direction. The door 105 has an interlock mechanism. Specifically, the linear feeder 22, the rotary feeder 23, the transport drum 31 (including the motor, the suction mechanism 311, and the release blow mechanism 312), the first transport conveyor 32 (the motor, the suction mechanism 323, and the release blow mechanism 324). ), the second transport conveyor 33 (including the motor, the suction mechanism 333, and the discharge blow mechanism 334), and the unloading conveyor 34 are stopped, the operator can open the door 105. there is This enhances safety.

Since the tablet printing apparatus 1 is provided with an interlock mechanism as described above, in general, unless the operation of the tablet printing apparatus is stopped, the operator cannot check the actual tablets collected in the defective product collection box. . However, there is a need for an operator to be able to check inside the defective product collection box even while the tablet printing apparatus is in operation. In this regard, the tablet printing apparatus 1 of the present embodiment has a unique configuration that allows the operator to check the defective product collection box even during operation of the tablet printing apparatus without sacrificing safety. have.

<2. Detailed configuration of defective printing product recovery unit and appearance defective product recovery unit>
In the following, more detailed configurations of the defective printing product recovery unit 61 and the defective appearance product recovery unit 62, which are unique to the present application, will be described with reference to FIGS. 7 to 9. FIG. FIG. 7 is a side view of the defective printing product recovery unit 61 and the defective appearance product recovery unit 62. As shown in FIG. FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of the recovery unit taken along line AA in FIG. 7, showing the state before the defective printing product recovery unit 61 and appearance defective product recovery unit 62 are pulled out. FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of the collection unit cut along line AA in FIG. 7, showing the state when the defective printing product collection unit 61 and the appearance defective product collection unit 62 are pulled out.

As shown in FIGS. 7 to 9, the defective printing product collection unit 61 includes a guide unit 613 and an opening/closing member 614 in addition to the defective printing product collection blow mechanism 611 and the defective printing product collection box 612 described above. have.

The guide section 613 has a guide passage that guides the target tablet as a defective product from the second transport conveyor 33 to the print-defective product collection box 612 . The guide part 613 is a so-called chute. The target tablet supplied to the guide portion 613 falls vertically in the guide passage due to its own weight.

The opening/closing member 614 is positioned immediately below the guide portion 613 . The opening/closing member 614 is supported at the lower end of the guide portion 613 so as to be rotatable around a rotation shaft extending in a horizontal direction and perpendicular to the width direction. The opening/closing member 614 rotates to change its posture between an open posture in which the downstream end of the guide passage of the guide portion 613 is open and a closed posture in which the downstream end of the guide passage is closed. It is possible. As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, when no external force is applied to the opening/closing member 614, the opening/closing member 614 is kept in the open position by its own weight.

As shown in FIGS. 7 to 9, the appearance-defective product recovery section 62 includes the above-described appearance-defective product recovery blow mechanism 621 and appearance-defective product recovery box 622, as well as a guide portion 623 and an opening/closing member. 624.

Since the configuration and function of the guide portion 623 are the same as those of the guide portion 613, detailed description thereof will be omitted. Also, since the configuration and function of the opening/closing member 624 are the same as those of the opening/closing member 614, detailed description thereof will be omitted.

As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, below the guide section 613 is a defective print collection box 612 . In addition, an appearance defective product collection box 622 is positioned below the guide portion 623 .

The print-defective product collection box 612 and the appearance-defective product collection box 622 are mounted on the mounting table 650 . The mounting table 650 is planar and extends horizontally. The mounting table 650 can be pulled out in the pull-out direction with respect to the housing 100 together with the printing defective product collection box 612 and the appearance defective product collecting box 622 by the operator. This drawing direction coincides with the width direction. A handle 650a is provided in front of the mounting table 650 to be gripped by the operator.

A blocking member 660 shown in FIGS. 8 and 9 is positioned behind the space in which the defective printing product collection box 612 and the appearance defective product collecting box 622 are arranged on the mounting table 650 . In other words, the closing member 660 is located upstream of the defective print collection box 612 and the defective appearance collection box 622 in the drawing direction. The closing member 660 has a planar shape extending perpendicularly to the width direction. A lower end of the closing member 660 is fixed to the mounting table 650 . Therefore, when the mounting table 650 is pulled out, the blocking member 660 is pulled out together with the defective print collection box 612 and the defective appearance collection box 622 .

As shown in FIGS. 6, 8 and 9, the door 105 of the housing 100 of the tablet printing apparatus 1 has a small window portion 107. As shown in FIGS. The small window portion 107 is rotatable around an axis extending in the vertical direction. The small window portion 107 is provided on the side surface of the housing 100 at a position facing the defective print collection box 612 , the defective appearance collection box 622 and the mounting table 650 . The opening of the small window portion 107 is large enough to allow the defective printing product collection box 612, the appearance defective product collecting box 622, and the mounting table 650 to pass through with a slight gap.

When the small window portion 107 is viewed in the drawing direction, the closing member 660 overlaps the entire opening of the small window portion 107 . More specifically, the closing member 660 is arranged to protrude outward from the opening of the small window portion 107 when viewed in the width direction. Therefore, when the defective printing product recovery box 612 and the appearance defective product recovery box 622 are pulled out together with the mounting table 650, the closing member 660 approaches the window of the small window portion 107, and the window is substantially closed by the closing member 660. escape. This prevents the operator from accessing the transport conveyors 32, 33, etc. arranged upstream of the closing member 660 in the pull-out direction.

As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the closing member 660 has a stay 660a extending upstream in the drawing direction. A pair of stays 660a are provided at a position corresponding to the printing defective product collection box 612 and a position corresponding to the appearance defective product collecting box 622 with an interval in the transport direction. Rollers 661 and 662 are rotatably supported by the pair of stays 660a. The rollers 661 and 662 are rotatable around a rotation axis extending in a direction perpendicular to and horizontal to the pull-out direction. The rollers 661 and 662 are provided side by side in the width direction on the upstream side and the downstream side in the drawing direction. In other words, the rotation axes of the rollers 661 and 662 are parallel to the rotation axes of the opening/closing members 614 and 624 . The rollers 661 and 662 can contact the opening/closing members 614 and 624 when the closing member 660 moves in the pull-out direction.

In the tablet printing apparatus 1 configured as described above, the small window portion 107 is not provided with an interlock mechanism. Therefore, the operator can operate to open the door of the small window portion 107 while operating the tablet printing apparatus 1 . When the door of the small window portion 107 is opened, the operator grasps the handle 650a of the mounting table 650 and manually removes the mounting table 650, the print defective collection box 612, the appearance defective collection box 622, and the closing member 660. It can be pulled out in the pull-out direction as a unit.

When the operator draws out the mounting table 650, the defective printing product collection box 612, the appearance defective product collection box 622, and the closing member 660 in the drawing direction, the rollers 661 and 662 come into contact with the open/close members 614 and 624 in the open posture. do. As a result, the opening/closing members 614 and 624 rotate around the rotation shafts to assume the closed position (see FIG. 9). Therefore, even if a target tablet is supplied to the guide portions 613 and 623 while the defective printing product recovery box 612 and the appearance defective product recovery box 622 are being pulled out, the target tablet is received by the opening/closing members 614 and 624 from below. be done. Therefore, even if the operator checks the tablets 9 in the defective print collection box 612 and the defective appearance collection box 622 during operation of the tablet printing apparatus 1, the other tablets 9 are not in the defective collection boxes 612 and 622. There is little fear of overflowing to the outside.

After confirming the contents of the defective printing product collection box 612 and the defective appearance product collecting box 622, the operator pulls out the mounting table 650, the defective printing product collecting box 612, the defective external product collecting box 622, and the blocking member 660. , the rollers 661 and 662 do not come into contact with the opening/closing members 614 and 624 when the rollers 661 and 662 are returned to their original positions (positions before being pulled out). As a result, the opening/closing members 614 and 624 return to the open position according to their own weight (see FIG. 8). In this way, the tablets 9 passing through the guide passages of the guide portions 613 and 623 are recovered in the recovery boxes 612 and 622 again.

<3. Summary>
As described above, the tablet printing device (inspection device) 1 according to the present embodiment includes a defective printing product recovery unit (defective product storage unit) 61 and an appearance defective product recovery unit (defective product storage unit) 62, and a guide It has parts 613 and 623 and opening/closing members 614 and 624 . In this tablet printing apparatus 1, while the first conveyer (conveyor) 32 and the second conveyer (conveyor) 33 are in operation, the defective printing product collection section 61 and at least a portion of the appearance-defective product collection unit 62 can be exposed to the outside of the tablet printing apparatus 1 (see FIG. 9). As a result, while the first transfer conveyor 32 and the second transfer conveyor 33 are in operation, the target tablets (defective tablets) are received by the opening/closing members 614 and 624 in the guide portions 613 and 623, and the defective printing product recovery portion 61 and the appearance defect are removed. At least part of the non-defective product collecting section 62 can be exposed to the outside of the device. Therefore, during operation of the tablet printing apparatus 1, the operator can check the condition of the defective product by looking at the actual product.

Further, in the tablet printing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment, the defective printing product recovery unit 61 and the defective appearance product recovery unit 62 can be pulled out to the outside of the tablet printing device 1 . This makes it easier for the operator to remove the defective product from the apparatus.

In addition, the side surface on one side in the width direction of the tablet printing apparatus 1 according to this embodiment is smaller than the entire side surface, and the small window portion 107 from which the defective printing product recovery unit 61 and the appearance defective product recovery unit 62 can be pulled out. (see Figure 6). As a result, the operator can easily and safely access the printing defective product collection unit 61 and the appearance defective product collecting unit 62 by opening the small window 107 on the side surface of the tablet printing apparatus 1 .

Moreover, the tablet printing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment further includes a mounting table 650 on which the defective printing product recovery unit 61 and the appearance defective product recovery unit 62 are placed. As a result, the defective printing product recovery unit 61 and the defective appearance product recovery unit 62, which are a plurality of defective product storage units, can be pulled out together with the mounting table 650 at once, improving operability.

In addition, the tablet printing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment is arranged upstream of the defective printing product recovery unit 61 and the defective appearance product recovery unit 62 in the pull-out direction, and the defective printing product recovery unit 61 and the defective appearance product recovery unit 62 are arranged. It further comprises an occlusion member 660 that moves therewith. In this way, by arranging the blocking member 660 on the upstream side of the withdrawal direction of the defective printing product collection unit 61 and the defective appearance product collecting unit 62, when the defective printing product collection unit 61 and the defective appearance product collection unit 62 are pulled out, It is possible to prevent the operator from accessing the first conveyor 32 and the second conveyor 33 .

In addition, in the tablet printing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment, the blocking member 660 covers the entire window of the small window portion 107 and Overlap. As a result, it is possible to more effectively prevent the operator from accessing the first conveyor 32 and the second conveyor 33 when the defective printing product recovery unit 61 and the appearance defective product recovery unit 62 are pulled out.

Moreover, in the tablet printing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment, the opening/closing members 614 and 624 are rotatable around a rotation shaft extending in the transport direction. As a result, it becomes easy to link the pull-out operation of the defective printing product recovery unit 61 and the defective appearance product recovery unit 62 with the change in the attitude of the opening/closing members 614 and 624 .

Furthermore, the tablet printing apparatus 1 according to this embodiment includes rollers 661 and 662 . The rollers 661 and 662 are supported by the closing member 660 so as to be rotatable around a rotation shaft extending in the transport direction. Rollers 661 and 662 can contact opening/closing members 614 and 624 . As a result, the defective printing product recovery unit 61, the defective appearance product recovery unit 62, and the closing member 660 are pulled out integrally, so that the rollers 661 and 662 act on the opening and closing members 614 and 624 to open the opening and closing members 614 and 624. It is possible to switch from the posture to the closed posture.

<4. About Modification>
Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various changes can be made to the above without departing from the spirit of the present invention. It is possible.

The tablet printing apparatus 1 described above performs printing on both sides of the tablet 9 using the first printing unit 41 and the second printing unit 42 . However, the inspection device may be a device that prints only on one side of the inspection object.

In addition, in the above-described tablet printing apparatus 1, defective printing products and defective appearance products are recovered by different recovery units 61 and 62, respectively. In this way, it is easy to determine whether the tablet 9 supplied to the tablet printing apparatus 1 is defective or the tablet 9 is defective in the tablet printing apparatus 1 . However, the present invention is not limited to this, and defective printing products and defective appearance products may be collected by a single collection unit.

The "object to be inspected" in the present invention may be a thin disk-shaped tablet having a front surface and a back surface as shown in the above embodiment, or may be an oval tablet or the like. In addition, the “object to be inspected” is not limited to a tablet as a medicine, but may be a tablet as a health food such as a supplement, or a candy tablet such as a soda pop. Furthermore, the “object to be inspected” in the present invention is not limited to tablets, and can be applied to various known products.

Also, the elements appearing in the above embodiments and modifications may be appropriately combined as long as there is no contradiction.

1 tablet printing device (inspection device)
9 tablet 10 control unit 20 supply mechanism 30 transport mechanism 31 transport drum 32 first transport conveyor (transport device)
33 second conveyer (conveyor)
34 unloading conveyor 40 printing unit 41 first printing unit 42 second printing unit 50 inspection mechanism 51 first visual inspection camera 52 second visual inspection camera 53 first printing inspection camera 54 third visual inspection camera 55 second printing inspection camera 60 Collection unit 61 Defective print collection unit 62 Defective appearance collection unit 100 Housing 105 Door 107 Small window 310 Suction unit 330 Suction unit 611 Blow mechanism for collecting defective print 612 Defective print collection box (defective product storage unit)
613 Guide part 614 Opening and closing member 621 Blow mechanism for collecting defective appearance product 622 Box for collecting defective appearance product (defective product storage unit)

Claims (7)

An inspection device that inspects an object to be inspected while being transported by a transport device,
a defective storage unit storing defective products determined to be defective as a result of the inspection among the inspection objects;
a guide portion having a guide passage for guiding the defective product from the conveying device to the defective product storage;
an opening/closing member capable of changing its posture between an open posture in which the downstream end of the guide passage is open and a closed posture in which the downstream end of the guide passage is closed;
a door disposed on the side of the inspection device and having an interlock mechanism that can be opened when the transport device is stopped;
with
The door has a small window portion that is smaller than the entire side surface of the inspection device and from which the defective product storage portion can be pulled out,
The inspection device is capable of exposing at least a part of the defective product storage section to the outside of the inspection device through the small window while the opening/closing member is in the closed posture while the conveying device is in operation. . The inspection device according to claim 1 ,
The inspection apparatus, further comprising a mounting table on which the defective product storage section is mounted. The inspection device according to claim 1 or claim 2 ,
The inspection apparatus further comprises a closing member that is arranged upstream of the defective product storage unit in a drawing direction of the defective product storage unit and that moves together with the defective product storage unit. The inspection device according to claim 3 ,
The inspection device according to claim 1, wherein the closing member overlaps the entire window of the small window portion when viewed in the direction of drawing out the defective product storage portion. The inspection device according to claim 1 or claim 2 ,
The inspection device, wherein the opening/closing member is rotatable around a rotation axis extending in a direction perpendicular to and horizontal to a drawing direction of the defective product storage section. The inspection device according to claim 5 ,
a closing member arranged upstream of the defective product storage unit in a drawing direction of the defective product storage unit and moving together with the defective product storage unit;
a roller supported by the closing member so as to be rotatable around a rotating shaft extending in a direction perpendicular to and horizontal to the pull-out direction;
with
The inspection device, wherein the roller is in contact with the opening/closing member. The inspection device according to any one of claims 1 to 6 ,
a conveying device that conveys a tablet that is an object to be inspected;
a printing unit that prints on the surface of the tablet;
a printing inspection camera that images the tablet after printing;
a defective product determination unit that determines whether or not the print result is defective based on the captured image;
inspection device.

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