JPH0431732B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (a) Industrial Application Field The present invention relates to a seamless filled capsule manufacturing apparatus and manufacturing method.

(b) Prior Art As a conventional seamless filled capsule manufacturing apparatus and manufacturing method, there is one described, for example, in Japanese Patent Publication No. 3700/1983. The seamless filled capsule manufacturing device shown here extrudes liquid capsule material and filling material through a vibrated double-pipe nozzle, so that the outer layer is the capsule material and the inner layer is the filling material. This device forms droplets and immediately cools them in a cooling medium to solidify the outer layer.

(c) Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, in the conventional device as described above, the frequency of vibration applied to the nozzle is not controlled according to the droplet formation speed, so the vibration frequency applied to the nozzle is There was a problem that it could not be operated in the most efficient state.

In addition, in conventional equipment, capsules were solidified by low-temperature gelation (physical gelation), which required extrusion into oil, which is a cooling medium, and oil adhered to the capsules. However, there was a problem in that it was very difficult to remove the oil adhering to the capsules. For this reason, when the capsule is further coated to form a three-layer coating, the coating on the oil-attached portion becomes insufficient, resulting in unstable quality. Furthermore, the conventional apparatus requires a refrigeration device to cool the cooling medium, making the overall structure of the seamless filled capsule manufacturing apparatus larger and more complicated, and the cost thereof is also high.

(d) Means for Solving the Problems The present invention has been made by focusing on the above-mentioned problems in the conventional seamless filled capsule manufacturing apparatus and manufacturing method. By chemically gelling the outermost layer of the falling droplets, detecting the droplet formation rate of the material, and controlling the vibration of the multi-tube nozzle based on the signal, the seamless filling capsule manufacturing equipment is the most The purpose is to operate in an efficient manner.

That is, the seamless filled capsule manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention includes a multi-tube nozzle that is supported to be movable over a small distance in the axial direction, a material supply device that supplies liquid material to each tube constituting the multi-tube nozzle, and An excitation device that vibrates the multi-tube nozzle in the axial direction, and a gelling agent that is installed at the position where the multilayer spherical droplet falls from the multi-tube nozzle and chemically gels the outermost layer of the droplet. a gelling agent container;
A droplet formation speed detection device that detects the droplet formation speed, and a multi-tube nozzle within a range where the droplet formation speed matches the vibration frequency of the multi-tube nozzle based on the electrical signal from the droplet formation speed detection device. and a control device that controls the frequency of the vibration excitation device so as to maximize the frequency of the vibration excitation device.

Furthermore, the seamless filled capsule manufacturing method according to the present invention supplies a liquid material to each tube constituting a multi-tube nozzle that is supported so as to be movable over a small distance in the axial direction, and vibrates the multi-tube nozzle in the axial direction. forming a multilayered spherical droplet and dropping the outermost layer of the droplet thus formed into a chemically gelatable gelling agent to produce a seamlessly filled capsule; The gist is to detect the droplet formation speed and increase the frequency of the multi-tube nozzle to the maximum within a range where the droplet formation speed matches the frequency of the multi-tube nozzle.

(E) Embodiments Examples of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The nozzle 2 for extruding the material is a triple tube nozzle. That is, the nozzle 2 is composed of three concentrically arranged small, medium, and large pipes, and can extrude the material supplied to each pipe into three layers of cylinders. The nozzle 2 is supported at its upper part by a disk-shaped spring 4 against a stationary part 6. That is, the nozzle 2 is movable by a predetermined amount in the axial direction (vertical direction in the figure). A vibration device 7 is provided above the nozzle 2 . The vibration device 7 has an excitation coil 8 and a vibrator 10. The vibrator 10 vibrates up and down according to the current flowing through the excitation coil 8 and transmits the vibration to the nozzle 2.
Liquid materials can be supplied to each tube constituting the nozzle 2 from material supply devices 12, 14, and 16, respectively. Material supply devices 12, 14 and 16
are storage tanks 18, 20 and 22, and pump 2, respectively.
4, 26 and 28, supply pipes 30, 32 and 34,
and valves 36, 38, and 40. In addition, a flexible part 30 for absorbing vibrations of the nozzle 2 is provided in the middle of the supply pipes 30, 32, and 34.
a, 32a and 34a are provided. The storage tank 18 communicating with the innermost tube of the nozzle 2 contains the material 42.
A storage tank 20 communicating with the pipe in the middle of the nozzle 2 contains an encapsulating material 44, and a storage tank 22 communicating with the pipe in the outermost part of the nozzle 2 contains a coating material (capsule material) 46. is included. A gelling agent container 4 is placed directly below the nozzle 2 at a predetermined distance.
8 is placed. A gelling agent 5 is supplied to the gelling agent container 48 from a gelling agent storage tank 52 by a pump 50.
4 is constantly supplied, and the gelling agent 54 in the gelling agent container 48 flows down onto a belt conveyor 56. The gelling agent 54 is capable of chemically gelling the coating material 46. The belt of the belt conveyor 56 is in the form of a screen,
Only the particulate matter (ie, filled capsules) in the gelling agent flowing down is transferred, and the gelling agent is returned to the gelling agent storage tank 52. A stroboscope 58, which is a droplet formation rate detection device, is provided facing the path through which the material passes from the nozzle 2 to the gelling agent container 48. The stroboscope 58 can be synchronized with continuously falling droplets to detect the rate of droplet formation. The signal obtained by stroboscope 58 is transmitted to controller 60.
is input. The control device 60 is configured to control the current supplied to the excitation coil 8 based on this signal.

Next, the effect will be explained.

From storage tanks 18, 20 and 22 pumps 24, 26
and 28 respectively supply a core material 42, an encapsulating material 44 and a coating material 46 to each tube of the nozzle 2. For example, the core material 42 is salad oil, the encapsulating material 44 is a sol containing 15% gelatin, and the coating material 46
is a sol, containing 0.8% sodium alginate. Each material is extruded into the air from the nozzle 2,
It flows downward in a three-layered cylindrical shape. Since the nozzle 2 is given vibration by the vibrating device 7,
Vibration is also applied to the flow of cylindrical material. As a result, the flow of material begins to constrict after it has descended a certain distance, and eventually separates into droplets. The material that has become droplets in this way is stored in the gelling agent container 4.
It falls during the 8th. Note that the speed at which the material becomes droplets is equal to the frequency of vibration applied to the nozzle 2 (that is, the number of droplets equal to the frequency is formed). Also, due to the surface tension of the materials, the droplet has a spherical shape with three layers (the outer layer is the coating material 46, the middle layer is the encapsulating material 44, and the inner layer is the core material 42). The outer layer of the droplet that has fallen into the gelling agent container 48 is coated with the gelling agent 54 (for example, 3%
It chemically gels by reacting with calcium chloride solution). The granules formed by gelation flow onto a belt conveyor 56 together with the gelling agent 54, and are separated from the gelling agent 54 and taken out by the belt conveyor 56. The gelling agent 54 is in the gelling agent storage tank 5
2 and is circulated again.

The rate of formation of droplets falling from the nozzle 2 is detected by the stroboscope 58 and the signal is sent to the control device 60, so that the frequency of the vibrator 10 always matches the number of blinks of the stroboscope, and the droplet formation speed is detected by the stroboscope 58, so that the frequency of the vibrator 10 always matches the number of blinks of the stroboscope, and The shape of the droplet can be confirmed. Further, since the control device 60 is capable of amplifying the signal from the stroboscope and shaping the signal waveform, it is possible to perform control according to the weight of the vibrator 10, the properties of the supplied material, etc. This makes it possible to always produce filled capsules at maximum speed as follows. That is, the control device 60
The signal from the stroboscope 58 is transmitted to the transducer 10.
Control is performed to increase the frequency of the vibrator 10 until just before it no longer matches the frequency of the vibrator 10. The maximum frequency at which droplets can be formed varies depending on the properties of the materials used, temperature, supply amount, etc. For example, if the viscosity increases, it becomes impossible to follow the rapid vibrations of a nozzle and form droplets. However, according to the above-described control by the control device 60, the vibrator 10 vibrates at the maximum frequency at which droplets can be formed, so that the most efficient operation under the given conditions can be performed. . This makes it possible to optimally select and set the temperature, supply amount, etc. of the material.

Note that in the above embodiment, an electromagnetic vibration generator was used as the vibration device for vibrating the nozzle.
Any other vibration excitation device may be used, such as a device that generates vibration from the rotation of a motor using a cam mechanism, a crank mechanism, or the like. Furthermore, although the nozzle in the above embodiment is a triple tube nozzle, it may also be a double tube nozzle or a quadruple tube nozzle or more. Any coating material and gelling agent can be used as long as the former can be chemically gelled by the latter.

(F) Effects of the Invention As explained above, since the present invention has the above-described configuration, seamlessly filled capsules can always be manufactured in the most efficient state. In addition to this, it is now possible to manufacture seamlessly filled capsules without using a cooling medium, and no refrigeration equipment is required, making seamlessly filled capsule manufacturing equipment smaller and cheaper. be able to. Also,
If the nozzle is a multi-pipe nozzle with three or more layers, a filled capsule with three or more layers can be manufactured in one step.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The drawing shows an embodiment of a seamless filled capsule manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention. 2... Nozzle, 4... Spring, 6... Stationary part, 7... Vibration device, 8... Excitation coil, 10... Vibrator, 12, 1
4, 16... Material supply device, 18, 20, 22... Storage tank, 24, 26, 28... Pump, 30, 32, 3
4... Supply pipe, 30a, 32a, 34a... Flexible part, 36, 38, 40... Valve, 42... Nuclear material, 44... Inclusion material, 46... Film material, 48... Gelling agent container, 50... Pump, 52... Gelling agent storage tank, 54... Gelling agent, 56... Belt conveyor, 5
8... Stroboscope, 60... Control device.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A multi-tube nozzle that is supported so as to be movable over a small distance in the axial direction, a material supply device that supplies liquid material to each tube constituting the multi-tube nozzle, and a material supply device that supplies liquid material to each tube constituting the multi-tube nozzle, and a gelling agent container provided at a position where the multilayer spherical droplets fall from the multi-tube nozzle and containing a gelling agent that chemically gels the outermost layer of the droplets; A droplet formation speed detection device that detects the droplet formation speed, and a multi-tube nozzle within a range where the droplet formation speed matches the vibration frequency of the multi-tube nozzle based on the electrical signal from the droplet formation speed detection device. A control device for controlling the vibration frequency of the vibration excitation device so as to maximize the vibration frequency of the seamless filled capsule manufacturing device. 2. Forming multilayer spherical droplets by supplying liquid material to each tube constituting the multi-tube nozzle, which is supported so as to be able to move a minute distance in the axial direction, and by vibrating the multi-tube nozzle in the axial direction. , in a method for manufacturing a seamlessly filled capsule in which the outermost layer of the droplet thus formed is dropped into a gelling agent that can be chemically gelled to form a seamlessly filled capsule, the rate of formation of the droplet is detected. , a method for producing seamless filled capsules, characterized in that the frequency of the multi-tube nozzle is increased to the maximum within a range in which the droplet formation rate coincides with the frequency of the multi-tube nozzle.