JPH0567493B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (a) Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to a tablet feeding device for appropriately picking out stored tablets and introducing them into a packaging mechanism in a tablet packaging machine.

(b) Prior art There are two main methods for tablet feeding devices: Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 52-34786 and Publication Utility Model No. 56-44728, respectively.
Disclosed in the issue. In the former case, a tablet alignment tube is pushed up into the tablet storage section by a solenoid drive, and the tablets are taken into the tube and extracted. In this method, the stored tablets are stirred by pushing up, so that a stable tablet extraction operation is achieved, but the disadvantage is that the operation noise is loud. In the latter case, several grooves are formed in the alignment wheel, the tablets are taken into the grooves while rotating the alignment wheel, and the tablets are extracted from the grooves by gravity. Although this method produces less operating noise because the tablets are extracted by the rotation of the alignment wheel, it has the disadvantage that the extraction speed is slow because the tablets are extracted by natural falling. In addition, all of the above-mentioned conventional techniques have the disadvantage that tablets are discharged by gravity, so that when the tablets are successively guided to the discharge port, several of them are discharged in unison. Therefore, it would be desirable to have a device that extracts and discharges tablets one by one without relying on gravity, but this has the disadvantage that it takes a long time to supply the tablets. Moreover, when extracting and discharging tablets, if an overload occurs due to problems such as tablet clogging, the tablets or the device may be damaged.

(C) Purpose of the Invention The present invention relates to a rotary tablet feeding device, which takes out tablets in conjunction with the rotational operation to ensure reliable tablet feeding, speeds up the tablet feeding operation, and prevents tablet troubles. The present invention provides an apparatus that does not damage tablets and equipment even if this occurs.

(D) Structure of the Invention The present invention provides a drive motor that is rotatably supported at one point in the same direction as the rotational direction of the output shaft during driving, and a drive motor that rotates or rotates in direct contact with the output shaft of the drive motor. a driven pulley that rotates in conjunction with a predetermined idler pulley that rotates in direct contact with the tablet accommodating section; a rotating plate disposed coaxially with the driven pulley with one side facing the tablet accommodating section; A plurality of ribs are arranged on the surface of the rotary plate facing the tablet accommodating portion with appropriate gaps around the periphery, and gaps between the ribs so that tablets can be locked and pushed out by reciprocating in the radial direction. a locking member attached to the rotary plate corresponding to the rotation plate, and an opening provided between the rotary plate and the tablet accommodating portion and having a smaller diameter than the rotary plate so that the tablet enters the inside of the rib, and facing the rib. A partition plate is provided with a fixed wall that approximately fits into the rib so that the rib is on the inside, a tablet ejection opening is formed in the fixed wall facing a predetermined tablet extraction position, and a locking member is attached to the rotating plate. The locking member, which is biased in the central axis direction and reaches the tablet extraction position by the rotation of the rotary plate, is engaged in conjunction with the rotation of the rotary plate so that it protrudes toward the tablet extraction port through the gap between the ribs. This configuration includes a control member that controls the reciprocating movement of the stop member.

(E) Embodiments of the Invention FIGS. 1 and 2 show a front sectional view and a side sectional view of a tablet feeding device according to the present invention, in which a base body 15 having a lid 14 on the top has a tablet storage section 16 and a driving section 17. Both are defined by a partition plate 10.
In the drive unit 17, the drive motor 18 is supported by a shaft 40 so as to be rotatable in the same direction as the rotation direction of the output shaft 19 indicated by arrow a. The idler pulley 20 has a rubber ring 41 attached to its outer ring periphery so as to come into contact with the output shaft of the drive motor 18, and a belt 22 is stretched between the idler pulley 20 and the driven pulley 21. The rotating plate 1 is mounted on a rotating shaft 4 of a driven pulley 21 supported by a bearing 23, and has a rib 7 extending toward the tablet storage section 16 around the other side. The rotating plate 1 has a guide wall 2 extending toward the driven pulley 21 around one side. As shown in FIG. 4, the ribs 7 are arranged in four pieces at equal intervals, and the partition plate 10 is provided with a fixed wall 9 that substantially coincides with the ribs 7.
is adapted to move inside the fixed wall 9.
Further, a tablet extraction port 37 is provided in the fixed wall 9 at a predetermined tablet extraction position, and a gap 6 between the ribs 7 is provided.
The tablet is taken out when the tablet and tablet takeout port 37 face each other. On the other hand, on the surface of the rotary plate 1 on which the guide wall 2 is attached, four claw pieces 5 slidably supported on the guide plate 24 are arranged at equal intervals so as to move back and forth in the radial direction from the shaft 4. . The guide wall 2 is provided with a notch 3 that faces the tip of the claw piece 5, and the claw piece 5 is provided with a shaft 25 on which a roller 26 is rotatably supported. Further, a fixed plate 27 is disposed between the driven pulley 21 and the rotary plate 1, and the fixed plate 27 has an inner circumferential wall 28 containing a cam 31 having the shape shown by the two-dot chain line in FIGS. 3 and 4. is firmly attached. The claw piece 5 is biased by a spring 35 so as to protrude outward from the rotary plate 1 through the notch 3, so that the roller 26 is pushed against the inner circumferential wall 2 of the cam 29.
8 and moves the inner circumferential wall 28 by the rotation of the rotary plate 1. Therefore, the reciprocating movement of the claw piece 5 is controlled by the shape of the inner circumferential wall 28 of the cam 31, which includes a first recess 29 and a second recess 30 and is shown by a two-dot chain line, and the roller 26 moves into the second recess 30 of the inner circumferential wall 28. When it comes into contact with the rotary plate 1, the claw piece 5 projects outward from the rotary plate 1 through the notch 3. The locking member 12, which slides in the radial direction on the surface of the rotary plate 1 on which the ribs 7 are formed, has one end bent toward the driven pulley 21 and the tip of the claw piece 5 attached thereto, and the other end bent toward the driven pulley 21 side. is bent toward the tablet storage portion 16 side to form a tablet hook 11. When the claw piece 5 protrudes outward from the rotary plate 1 through the notch 3, the hook 11 also protrudes to a position where it is substantially flush with the rib 7, and the cam 31 and spring 3 are arranged so that the tablet is ejected.
5. The rollers 26 are set respectively. In this way, the present invention discharges tablets by the action of a control member that is linked to the rotation of the rotary plate 1. In this example, the claw pieces 5
A control member is constituted by a spring 35 that always biases in the radial direction, a roller 26 attached to the claw piece 5, and an inner cam 31 on which the roller 26 slides in contact with it. In addition, as shown in FIG.
A push plate 1 is provided on the surface having ribs 7 along the reciprocating distance of the hook 11 as the claw piece 5 reciprocates.
It has 3. A circular opening 8 whose radius is approximately the distance to the shaft 4 when the hook 11 is closest to the shaft 4 is bored in the partition plate 10, and the hook 11 for the rotary plate 1 is provided. The lower side is the tablet storage part 16
is connected to. Further, since the radius of the opening 8 is smaller than the distance from the rib 7 to the shaft 4, the opening 8
An annular groove 33 is formed between the opening periphery 32 and the rib 7.
is formed. The bottom surface of the tablet storage section 16 is inclined toward the opening 8, and the tablet is guided through the opening 8 to the rotary plate 1 by this bottom surface, and is formed by the rib 7 located below and the opening periphery 32. They are introduced into the grooves 33 and aligned.

To explain the operation of the above configuration, tablets are loaded from the upper part of the base 15 by opening the lid 14, and are deposited in the tablet accommodating part 16, and are also introduced into the rotary plate 1 through the opening 8, and then downward. The tablets are aligned in the groove 33 formed by the located rib 7 and the opening periphery 32. When the drive motor 18 is operated in response to a predetermined tablet ejection signal, its output shaft 19
Idler pulley 2 is in direct contact with the peripheral edge of
0 rotates in the direction opposite to the direction of arrow a, and the driven pulley 21 also rotates in the same direction. At this time, when the drive motor 18 starts rotating, the main body also rotates in the direction of the arrow a with the shaft 40 as a fulcrum, so the output shaft 19 bites into the peripheral edge of the idler pulley 20 and the transmitted force increases. On the other hand, when the drive motor 18 stops rotating, no rotational force about the shaft 40 is generated and the drive motor 18 makes contact only with the weight of the drive motor 18, so no strain is generated at the peripheral edge of the idler pulley 20. When the rotary plate 1 is rotated in the direction of the arrow A in FIG.
Since it is in contact with the recess 30, it is biased by the spring 35 and protrudes outward from the rotary plate 1 from the notch 3, and the roller 26 of the other claw piece 5 is regulated by the cam 31 and moved in the direction of the shaft 4. I'm leaving. Figure 4 is the third
This figure shows the surface of the rotary plate 1 on which the ribs 7 are formed in accordance with the figure, and in this figure, the direction of rotation of the rotary plate 1 is indicated by an arrow B. In FIG. 4, among the tablets aligned on the lower rib 7, the tablet located at the rearmost in the rotational direction is connected to the hook 11 and the pusher plate, which are retracted in the direction of the shaft 4 due to the rotation of the rotary plate 1. 13. The tablet 30 held by the hook 11 and the push plate 13 is transported toward the tablet extraction position P while being guided by the fixed wall 9. Rotating plate 1
When the roller 26 comes into contact with the first recess 29 of the cam 31 due to the rotation of Hook 1 to move to
The tablet held at 1 is pushed towards the fixed wall 9. Therefore, if the tablet is held in an imperfect posture by the hook 11, it will be corrected by being biased in the direction of the fixing wall 9. However, the roller 26 is
When the claw piece 5 with the roller 26 attached thereto comes into contact with the second recess 30 of the rotating plate 1, the claw piece 5 projects outward from the rotary plate 1 through the notch 3. Therefore, due to the movement of the claw piece 5, the hook 11 also projects in the radial direction and becomes substantially flush with the rib 7, and the tablet 36 that was locked on the hook 11 is guided by the push plate 13 and pushed out of the rotary plate 1. The tablet is extracted from the tablet outlet 37. Then, when the rotary plate 1 rotates further and the roller 26 that was in contact with the second recess 30 of the cam 31 comes into contact with the normal inner circumferential wall 28, the claw piece 5 is regulated by the cam 31 and resists the spring 36. and the hook 11 also moves in the axis 4 direction, making it possible to hold the tablets aligned with the ribs 7. When a predetermined number of tablets have been extracted, the drive motor 18 is stopped and the feeding operation is completed.

In this way, the present invention locks and pushes out tablets by reciprocating the locking member 12 in the radial direction in conjunction with the rotation of the rotary plate 1. If reciprocating movement is locked, an overload will occur. However, according to the present invention, when an overload is applied, the output shaft 19 will not slip from the idler pulley 20 and thereby damage the jammed tablet or equipment.
Further, in this example, an idler pulley 20 is provided and the output shaft 19 of the drive motor 18 is brought into contact with the idler pulley 20, but the output shaft 19 and the peripheral edge of the driven pulley 21 are brought into direct contact without providing the idler pulley 20. A similar effect can be obtained even if they are brought into contact with each other.

(F) Effects of the Invention As described above, according to the present invention, the tablets are held and extracted in conjunction with the rotation of the rotary plate, so that the tablet feeding speed can be increased. In addition, since the idler pulley is driven by directly coming into contact with the output shaft of the drive motor, and the driven pulley installed coaxially with the rotary plate has its drive transmitted to the idler pulley via a belt, the tablets are removed when the tablets are extracted. Even if the drive unit is overloaded due to problems such as the drive getting caught on the fixed wall near the tablet ejection port, the output shaft of the drive motor can be prevented from slipping, and the belt can be prevented from slipping. It is possible to provide a highly reliable tablet feeding device that does not cause damage to equipment or equipment.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a front sectional view of a tablet feeding device according to the present invention, Fig. 2 is a side sectional view, Fig. 3 is a plan view showing the side portion of the rotary plate with claw pieces, and Fig. 4 is a plan view of the rotary plate. It is a top view which shows the side part provided with the rib, and also shows the fitting state of the rib and the fixed wall. 1... Rotating plate, 2... Guide wall, 3... Notch,
4... Central axis, 5... Claw piece, 6... Gap, 7...
Rib, 8... Opening, 9... Fixed wall, 10... Partition plate, 11... Hook, 12... Locking member, 13
...Push plate, 19...Output shaft, 40...Shaft.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 A tablet storage section for storing tablets, and a tablet storage section for storing the tablets.
A drive section that takes out the tablets one by one to a tablet outlet, and a partition plate that partitions the storage section and the drive section and has an opening that guides the tablets to the drive section. An idler pulley rotates in direct contact with the output shaft of the drive motor, a driven pulley whose rotation is transmitted to the idler pulley via a belt, and a driven pulley provided coaxially with the driven pulley and facing the opening of the partition plate. The rotary plate includes a plurality of ribs having a larger diameter than the opening and arranged with an appropriate gap from each other on a surface facing the storage portion, and a plurality of ribs that reciprocate in the radial direction. a locking member that is movably attached to the gap between the ribs to lock and push out the tablet; and a locking member that moves when the locking member reaches a position facing the tablet ejection port. A tablet feeding device comprising: a control member that projects from the gap toward the tablet outlet and pushes out the tablets that have been locked between the rib and the locking member toward the tablet outlet.