JPH0613339B2 - Filling amount inspection device in powder filling machine - Google Patents

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a filling amount inspection device in a powder filling machine.

2. Description of the Related Art As a powder filling machine for medicines, for example, a dosing wheel having a plurality of radial powder suction recesses provided at an equal pitch on the outer peripheral surface thereof is provided, and the dosing wheel is a recess 1 about a horizontal axis. It is known that by intermittently rotating by pitch, powder that is vacuum-sucked from the hopper into the recess at the upper part of the dosing wheel is extruded into a container that moves on the conveyor at the lower part of the dosing wheel. . In such a powder filling machine, if some abnormality such as a vacuum abnormality, a powder bridge in the hopper, or a clogging of the filter occurs, the powder may not be sufficiently sucked into the recess and the filling amount may be insufficient. . However, conventionally, only the weight inspection of the container filled with powder by sampling has been performed, and it has been difficult to inspect the shortage of the filling amount for all the containers.
In addition, since it is not possible to automatically detect that the hopper is empty and the powder is no longer sucked into the recess, the worker monitors every day for about 30 minutes before the end of filling of each lot. There was a need.

For this reason, a pressure-sensitive rod is inserted into the powder suction recess of the dosing wheel where the powder is sucked, and the powder filling amount is detected from the pressure applied to the pressure-sensitive rod and the pressure-sensitive rod and displacement. There is proposed a filling amount inspection device in JP-A-60-148404.

The problem to be solved by the invention However, in the above-mentioned inspection device, since the filling amount is indirectly detected by the pressure and displacement of the pressure-sensitive rod, it is possible to detect the filling amount by the density or granularity of the filled powder. Variations occur, making accurate inspection difficult. In addition, a relatively large space is required for arranging the pressure-sensitive rod and a mechanism for driving the pressure-sensitive rod around the dosing wheel. If such a space is not available, inspection cannot be performed and the device becomes large. . Furthermore, a driving mechanism for the pressure-sensitive rod and a means for detecting the pressure and displacement of the pressure-sensitive rod are required, which results in relatively high cost and is difficult to put into practical use.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to solve the above problems, to provide a reliable and highly reliable filling amount inspection apparatus which does not require a large space around the dosing wheel.

Means for Solving Problems A filling amount inspection apparatus according to the present invention includes a dosing wheel having a plurality of radial powder suction recesses provided at an equal pitch on the outer peripheral surface, and the dosing wheel is centered on a substantially horizontal axis. In the powder filling machine configured such that powder that is vacuum-sucked into the recess at the upper portion of the dosing wheel is extruded into the container at the lower portion of the dosing wheel by intermittently rotating by one pitch at each recess of the concave portion. The tip of the optical fiber for incident light and the optical fiber for reflected light connected to the detector should face the powder in the recess from the outer side in the radial direction of the dosing wheel at the position where the recess in the state where the powder is sucked stops. It is characterized by being arranged.

The powder in the present invention includes all powders of pharmaceuticals, industrial chemicals, foods and the like, fine particles and the like.

Example FIG. 1 shows a powder filling machine (10) and a filling amount inspection device (11).

The filling machine (10) has a dosing wheel (12) arranged so that its axis is substantially horizontal, and a powder hopper (13) arranged so that its bottom is substantially in contact with the upper outer peripheral surface of the dosing wheel (12). And a container conveyor (14) arranged so as to pass directly under the dosing wheel (12). On the conveyor (14), a plurality of containers (15) filled with powder are arranged at equal pitches, and the containers (15) are intermittently sent by the conveyor (14) one pitch at a time. While moving right below the dosing wheel (12) for a fixed period of time, it moves on the conveyor (14) from left to right in FIG. On the outer surface of the dosing wheel (12),
For example, eight radial powder suction recesses (16) are provided at equal pitches. Then, the dosing wheel (12) intermittently rotates by one pitch of the recesses (16) in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 1 about its axis so as to synchronize with the conveyor (14), and each recess ( The 16) rotates with the dosing wheel (12) while stopping at eight stations (17), (18), (19), (20), (21), (22), (23) and (24) for a fixed period of time. The first station (17) is located directly above the axis of the dosing wheel (12), and the recess (16) stopped at this position faces upward, and the powder outlet (at the bottom of the hopper (13) ( (Not shown). Further, the fifth station (21) is located directly below the axis of the dosing wheel (12), and the recess (16) stopped at this position faces directly below and stops on the conveyor (14). Facing the container (15). Then, in the first station (17), the powder is vacuum sucked from the bottom of the hopper (13) into the recess (16),
The recess (16) from which the powder has been sucked moves to the fifth station (21) via the second to fourth stations (18), (19) and (20). The recess (16) is the second to fourth stations (18)
The powder remains sucked into the recess (16) while passing through (19) and (20), and is sucked into the recess (16) while it is stopped at the fifth station (21). The powder that had been discharged is extruded into the container (15) stopped right below. The recess (16) thus emptied is the sixth to eighth stations (2
2) Return to the first station (17) through (23) and (24), and repeat such operations to convey the conveyor (1
4) Powder is filled in the container (15) which moves up one after another.

Since the filling machine (10) itself is a known one, detailed description will be omitted.

When the powder is sucked into the recess (16) as described above, the surface of the powder (25) in the recess (16) is normal, and the surface of the powder (25) is as shown in FIG. 6 (a). ) Is substantially flush with the outer peripheral surface of the container (15), and the amount of powder filled in the container (15) does not become insufficient. However, when the above-mentioned abnormality occurs, the surface of the powder (25) in the recess (16) is shown in Fig. 6 (b).
The chips (26) shown in (c), (d), and (e) occur, and the amount of the powder filled in the container (15) becomes insufficient by this amount.

The filling amount inspection device (11) detects the chipping (26) on the surface of the powder (25) in the recess (16), that is, the suction powder amount insufficiency, thereby checking the filling powder amount of the container (15). This is for checking the shortage and is provided with four reflection type photoelectric detectors (28) using the optical fiber unit (27). Each optical fiber unit (27) is optically coupled to a photoelectric detector (28) by an optical fiber connector (not shown), and is used for incident light optically coupled to a projector (not shown) of the photoelectric detector (28). It is composed of an optical fiber (29) and a reflected light optical fiber (30) optically coupled to a light receiver (not shown). These optical fibers (29) (30) are made of plastic optical fibers, and their tips are filled with the filling machine (10) as follows.
Second station (18) for dosing wheels (12)
It is arranged so as to face the powder in the recess (16) stopped at the outer side in the radial direction of the dosing wheel (12).

As shown in detail in FIGS. 2 to 5, prismatic vertical projections (31) are integrally formed on the outer surface of the hopper (13) to form a substantially U-shaped first support member (32). The ridge (31) is mounted so as to sandwich it, and is fixed to the ridge (31) by a bolt (33). The vertical substrate (35) of the substantially T-shaped second support member (34)
It is fixed to the outer surface of the first support member (32) by bolts (36). These bolts (36) are provided in a horizontally long cutout (37) provided in the substrate (35) so that the horizontal mounting position of the second support member (34) with respect to the first support member (32) can be adjusted. It is passed. A recess (16) of the second station (18) is provided at a portion near the tip of the second support member (34).
Has a hole (38) extending therethrough in a direction parallel to the axis of the rod, and a rod-shaped third support member (39) is slidably inserted into the hole (38) and fixed by a bolt (40). ing.
A collar (41) is formed on a portion of the third support member (39) near the tip on the dosing wheel (12) side, and a male screw portion (42) is formed on the tip side of the collar (41). And about U
The base-end bifurcated portion (44) of the fourth shaped support member (43) is attached so as to sandwich the male screw portion (42) of the third support member (39),
The nut (45) screwed into the male screw part (42) holds the nut (45) and the flange (41). 4th support member (4
At the tip of 3), the recess (1) of the second station (18)
A hole (46) passing through this is provided in the axial direction of 6),
A plate-shaped fifth support member (47) is fixed to the side surface of the dosing wheel (12) side by a screw (48) so as to close the hole (46). The fifth support member (47) has four pairs of holes (49) (50) penetrating the fifth support member (47) in a direction parallel to the hole (46) of the fourth support member (43). It is provided every 90 ° around the center line. Holes for each pair (49) (5
0) are arranged side by side in the radiation direction, and the tip of the incident light optical fiber (29) is provided on one side and the tip of the reflected light optical fiber (30) is provided on the other side of the hole (46) of the fourth support member (43) It is stopped from the side. The optical fiber (29) (3) is provided on the surface of the fifth supporting member (47) on the dosing wheel (12) side.
A transparent cover (51) covering the tip of (0) is fixed.
Dosing wheel (1 at the tip of the fourth support member (43)
A cover (52) is attached to the part opposite to 2),
Each optical fiber unit (27) is led out from the hole (46) of the fourth support member (43) through the notch (53) to the photoelectric detector (28). And the hopper (1
3) vertical mounting position of the first support member (32) to the ridge (31), horizontal mounting position of the second support member (34) to the first support member (32), second support member (34) By adjusting the longitudinal mounting position of the third support member (39) with respect to the second supporting member, and the longitudinal mounting position and mounting angle of the fourth supporting member (43) with respect to the third supporting member (39).
The position of the tip of the optical fiber unit (27) with respect to the recess (16) of the station (18) is adjusted. Usually the 5th
The center line of the support member (47) coincides with the axis of the recess (16) of the second station (18), and the distance between the surface of the transparent cover (51) and the outer peripheral surface of the dosing wheel (12) is 5 mm. Are adjusted so that the tip ends of the four sets of optical fiber units (27) are located at four symmetrical positions in the recess (16) of the second station (18) near the outer periphery of the powder surface (dosing wheels ( It faces from the outside in the radial direction of 12).

The light emitted from the projector of each photoelectric detector (28) passes through the optical fiber (29) for incident light and is incident on the surface of the powder (25) in the recess (16) of the second station (18), and the powder ( The reflected light from the surface of (25) passes through the optical fiber (30) for reflected light and enters the photodetector of each photoelectric detector (28). If there is no chip (26) on the surface of the powder (25) in front of each pair of optical fiber units (27), there is much reflected light entering the reflected light optical fiber (30) and the photoelectric detector (28 ) Outputs a signal without omission. On the contrary, when there is a chip (26) on the surface of the powder (25) in front of the optical fiber unit (27) of each pair, the reflected light entering the optical fiber (30) for reflected light is small and the photoelectric detector ( From 28), there is a missing signal and a signal is output. The output signal line (54) of each photoelectric detector (28) is connected to the control device (55), and the filling amount is checked during the filling operation as follows.

That is, the controller (55) examines the outputs of the four photoelectric detectors (28) at a fixed time while the dosing wheel (12) of the filling machine (10) is stopped. As a result, when all the photoelectric detectors (28) output the signal without chipping, there is no chipping (26) on the surface of the powder (25) in the recess (16) of the second station (18). I judge that it is in a state of
Output a normal signal and continue the filling operation. Also, if any of the photoelectric detectors (28) outputs a missing signal, it is judged that there is a missing (26) on the surface of the powder (25), and an abnormal signal is output to fill it. The machine (10) is stopped and a buzzer (not shown) issues an alarm for a certain period of time. Then, by repeating such inspection every time the dosing wheel (12) intermittently rotates by one pitch of the recess (16) and stops, it is possible to inspect the shortage of the filling amount for all of them. Also, when the powder is no longer sucked from the hopper (13) into the recess (16) after the filling of each lot is completed, this is detected and the filling machine (1
0) stops automatically.

In the case of the above filling amount inspection device (11), since the photoelectric detector (28) uses the optical fibers (29) (30), a normal detector is provided around the dosing wheel (12). Even if it is not possible to arrange the optical fiber, it is possible to arrange the tips of the optical fibers (29) and (30) in the peripheral portion of the dosing wheel (12) for inspection. Moreover, since the optical fibers (29) (30) are made of plastic optical fibers having excellent flexibility, they are extremely flexible. However, the material, the number, the arrangement, etc. of the optical fibers are not limited to those in the above embodiment, and can be changed as appropriate. For example, the optical fiber includes a so-called multi-core optical fiber having a core for incident light and a core for reflected light in the cladding of one optical fiber. In this case, the portion of the incident light core corresponds to the incident light optical fiber, and the portion of the reflected light core corresponds to the reflected light optical fiber.

Further, in the case of the above-mentioned embodiment, the optical fiber (29) (3
The tip of (0) is arranged and the optical fiber (29) (30)
Since the tip of the optical fiber points diagonally downward, the optical fiber (29)
There is no fear that the powder will adhere to the tip of the (30) or the surface of the cover (51) thereof and the sensitivity will be deteriorated. However, the tips of the optical fibers (29) (30) may be arranged at another portion, such as the third station (19).

EFFECTS OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, a dosing wheel (12) having a plurality of radial powder suction recesses (16) provided at an equal pitch on the outer peripheral surface is provided, and the dosing wheel (12) is centered on a substantially horizontal axis. The powder (25) vacuum-sucked into the recess (16) at the upper part of the dosing wheel (12) is intermittently rotated by one pitch of the recess (16) at the lower part of the dosing wheel (12). In the powder filling machine configured to extrude into the container (15), the tips of the incident light optical fiber (29) and the reflected light optical fiber (30) connected to the reflection type photoelectric detector (28), Since the recess (16) sucking the powder (25) stops, the powder (25) in the recess (16) is arranged so as to face the powder (25) from the outer side in the radial direction of the dosing wheel (12). , As mentioned above, the total amount of filling shortage Stomach can be inspected. Therefore, the reliability is much higher than that of the conventional sampling inspection, and the end of filling of each lot can be automatically detected, so there is no need for an operator to monitor as in the conventional case. Fully automated work becomes possible. Also, since the powder is directly detected by the reflection type photoelectric detector,
Variations in the detection of the filling amount due to the density and particle size of the powder to be filled are small, and therefore the reliability is high and an accurate inspection can always be performed. Furthermore, it is only necessary to place the tip of the optical fiber around the dosing wheel, and the reflective photoelectric detector can be placed away from the dosing wheel.
Therefore, a large space is not required around the dosing wheel, and the device can be downsized. Moreover,
Since only the reflection type photoelectric detector and the optical fiber are provided, the cost is reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

The drawings show an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1 is a schematic structural portion of a powder filling machine and a filling amount inspection device, FIG. 2 is an enlarged arrow view of line II-II of FIG. 1, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line IV-IV of FIG. 3, FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along line VV of FIG. 4, and FIG. 6 is inside a recess of a dosing wheel. It is an expanded sectional view showing various states of the powder sucked into. (10) …… Powder filling machine, (11) …… Filling amount inspection device,
(12) …… Dosing wheel, (15) …… Container, (1
6) Powder suction recess, (25) powder, (28) …… Reflective photoelectric detector, (29) …… Incoming light optical fiber, (30) …… Reflected light optical fiber.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of radial powder suction recesses (16) on the outer peripheral surface.
Dozing wheels (1
2), the dosing wheel (12) intermittently rotates by one pitch of the recess (16) about a substantially horizontal axis, so that the dosing wheel (12) is located in the recess (16) at the upper part of the dosing wheel (12). An optical fiber for incident light connected to a reflective photoelectric detector (28) in a powder filling machine configured to push vacuumed powder (25) into a container (15) under a dosing wheel (12). (29) and the tip of the optical fiber for reflected light (30), the dosing wheel to the powder (25) in the recess (16) at the position where the recess (16) in the state where the powder (25) is sucked stops. The filling amount inspection device in a powder filling machine, which is arranged so as to face from the outside in the radial direction of (12). 2. The filling amount inspection in the powder filling machine according to claim 1, wherein the incident light optical fiber (29) and the reflected light optical fiber (30) are made of a plastic optical fiber. apparatus.