JPH07112878B2 - Capsule filling machine - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a powder weight adjusting device for automatically adjusting the filling weight of powder in a capsule filling machine.

(Prior Art) In a capsule filling machine for filling powders such as medicines into capsules, the powder is compressed and molded with a predetermined volume and a predetermined density by a vertically moving filling plunger.
It is filled in a capsule. In such a filling method,
It is not necessary to change the vertical position of the filling plunger as long as the weight of the powder entering the molding section is constant under any conditions, but in reality the physical properties of the powder during operation, the operating conditions of the device The amount of the powder is not always constant under the influence of the above factors, and it is necessary to constantly monitor the fluctuation state and adjust the vertical position of the plunger.

Here, a typical example of the conventional capsule filling machine will be specifically described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3, where A is a powder filling portion, and the main constituent portion is the filling plunger 1. , A transfer plunger 5 and a filling disc 3.

A more specific example of the structure of the powder filling section A is shown in FIG. 3, and 12 sets of plungers are prepared as a set of 6 sets in total, and each set is fixed at a predetermined position above the filling disk 3. Has been done. That is, each group has six stations I to VI.
It is fixedly placed in.

Further, a ring-shaped underplate 4 which is in close contact with the lower surface of the filling disk 3 and is partially cut off is fixedly mounted on a mount (not shown). Reference numeral 12 is a cover fixed to the outer circumferential surface of the filling disk 3.

The filling disk 3 has holes 3a vertically penetrating at a position corresponding to each set and having the same diameter and the same number as the plunger tip portion. The filling disk 3 is intermittent at 6 stages per one rotation. It is designed to be rotated.

The plunger has a shape shown in the drawing, and the head of the plunger is released in a set unit by a pressing device (not shown), and the plunger is moved into and out of the hole 3a of the filling disk 3 with a predetermined stroke. As described above, 12 sets of 1 and 6 sets are arranged above the filling disk 3 to form 6 stations I to IV. Of these, 5 stations I to V are the filling plungers 1 Thus, the powder is packed and compressed at each station, and at the remaining one station VI, the loading plunger 5 acts to load the powder mass into the capsule.

Next, the outline of the capsule loading section indicated by B in FIG. 2 will be described. In this capsule loading section B, 12 sets of upper and lower segments 8 and 9 are arranged on the same circumference with the same phase, and Reference numerals 8 and 9 are such that one revolution can be intermittently rotated 12 times as shown by arrows in the figure. The upper and lower segments 8 and 9 are substantially rectangular parallelepiped as shown in the figure, and are divided into an upper portion and a lower portion to form an upper segment 8 and a lower segment 9, and the 12 plungers forming the above group by penetrating the upper and lower surfaces thereof A hole 14 having a diameter capable of holding the same number of capsules is formed at a site corresponding to.

The capsule loading section B has 12 stations, and in each station, the upper and lower segments 8 and 9 which are intermittently rotated and fed are sequentially loaded with empty capsules, caps are removed, powders are loaded, and caps are loaded. Operations such as fitting, taking out of the capsule loaded with powder, discharging the capsule, and cleaning the segment are performed.

The following is a detailed description of the operation now.

(A) An empty capsule in which the cap 13a and the body 13b whose directions are adjusted by an unillustrated capsule direction regulating device are integrated is supplied from the capsule hopper to the station and the capsule loading section B. The supplied capsules are loaded in the holes 14 of the waiting upper and lower segments 8 and 9.

(B) At the station, the upper segment 8 moves upward and is moved toward the center of the track, and at the same time, the capsule cap 13a and the body 13b are separated while being held by the upper segment 8 and the lower segment 9 respectively (Fig. During).

C. After that, the upper and lower segments 8 and 9 move on their own orbits to reach the station. Here, it overlaps with a part of the powder loading section A described above, and the lower segment 8 stops at the station VI of the powder loading section A while holding the body 13b of the capsule. Here, as described later, a mass of powder is loaded into the body 13b of the capsule (in the figure).

At the station D, the upper segment 8 descends and returns to the outer peripheral track, and the upper segment 8 and the lower segment 9 are brought into alignment (in the figure).

Next, at the station 10, the caps 13a and the body 13b of the capsule are pushed by the pins moving from the upper and lower sides of the upper and lower segments 8 and 9, respectively.
3a is completely covered (in the figure).

At the station, the powder-filled capsule is pushed out above the segment by the pin from the lower side of the segment, and is discharged out of the machine by air. Each of the above operations is performed during one rotation of the segment.

Next, the powder filling step will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4.

In the figure, I to VI show each station (5 places) of the filling plunger 1 and one station of the loading plunger 5.

The powder 2 supplied from a hopper (not shown) is a filling disk 3
It is deposited at a constant level on top.

The deposited powder 2 has holes formed in the filling disk 3.
It also flows into 3a.

When the filling disk 3 rotates while the hole 3a is filled with powder and reaches the first station I and stops, a group of twelve filling plungers arranged in the first station I is provided. Is pressed from above and descends for a predetermined stroke, and the powder 2 in the hole 3a is squeezed until it becomes approximately 1/5 to form a mass 7 (I in the figure).

The filling plunger 1 of the first station I rises, and subsequently the filling disc rotates to move to the second station.
Stop at II. By this time, new powder 2 has been deposited and filled in the holes 3a on the previously formed powder mass 7.

The new powder 2 thus filled is squeezed a second time by a group of filling plungers 1 arranged at the second station II. The vertical movement position of the filling plunger 1 at this time is set so that the compression-molded powder is approximately 2/5 of the depth of the hole 3a.

The same operation is repeated at each of the third to fifth stations III to V, and the powder mass 7 as a whole is compression molded according to the loading height in the body 13b of the capsule.

That is, a powder mass 7 is formed through five steps.

Then, thereafter, the filling disk 1 is rotated and reaches the sixth station VI and stops. Here, the under plate 4 is a cutout portion, and the lower segment 9 of the capsule loading section B stands by in this cutout portion while holding the empty capsule body 13b as described above. When the portion of the filling disk 3 where the compression molding of the powder 2 is completed reaches the sixth station VI, the loading plungers 5 arranged therein are activated, and the empty capsule body that stands by at the bottom is activated.
A lump 7 of powder 2 is pushed into 13b.

As described above in detail, in the capsule filling machine, the powder is compression-molded in the powder loading portion A to a predetermined size to form the lump 7, and the lump 7 is filled in the empty capsule prepared in the subsequent capsule loading portion. In the capsule loading section B, the capsule body loaded with the lumps 7 is covered with a cap to be integrated and continuously discharged as a final product (Furiga GKF1500 type to the capsule filling machine, sold by Bosch packaging machine).

By the way, according to this type of capsule filling machine, it is difficult to make the weight of the powder constant due to the influence of various internal and external conditions at the time of compression molding of the powder as described earlier, and therefore, it is possible to constantly grasp the fluctuation of the weight. Therefore, it was necessary to adjust the vertical movement position of the filling plunger.

Conventionally, in this adjustment, an operator samples the capsule at regular intervals, measures the actual weight, and adjusts the vertical movement position of the filling plunger based on the result. Everything was entrusted to the manual work of the workers. Therefore, in order to ensure the safety of the work, the machine has to be stopped every time the work is performed, and further, the sampling, weighing,
It is necessary to repeatedly try a series of operations such as adjusting the vertical movement position of the filling plunger, and the fact is that the adjustment cannot be performed frequently.

If an attempt is made to further adjust the weight, loss time will frequently occur, resulting in a significant decrease in production efficiency.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) As described above, since the conventional capsule filling machine was not provided with an appropriate automatic adjusting device for the weight of powder to be compression-molded, accurate weight adjustment could not be performed, Conventionally, it has been difficult to manually adjust and surpass it, but there are various problems that the quality is not sufficient and the production efficiency is reduced.

The present invention was developed to solve these problems, and the purpose thereof is to stop the machine without stopping.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a powder capsule filling machine capable of more accurate and reliable automatic weight adjustment, thereby improving product quality and achieving continuous unmanned operation for a long time.

(Means for Solving Problems) Therefore, according to the present invention, a powder filling section for compressing and molding powder by a plunger to fill the capsule and an empty capsule are prepared, and the capsule filled with the powder is discharged as a final product. In the conventional capsule filling machine as described above, which is provided with a capsule loading unit, a sampling device provided with a sample withdrawing gripping device in the vicinity of the capsule component discharging part, and one sampled capsule product are automatically fed. A rotary capsule feeder for sending to a weighing machine, an automatic weighing machine for automatically weighing the weight of each capsule sent in, and a calculation based on the result from the weighing machine, and comparing this with a reference set value. When the deviation value is out of the setting range, the arithmetic circuit control device which issues a command electric signal and the stepping mode for the vertical movement position of the plunger in response to the signal. And a plunger adjusting device that adjusts through a plunger adjusting drive section and a plunger pressing device. This is a means for solving the above problems.

(Operation) A part of the capsule product discharged from the capsule product discharge part of the capsule loading part is taken out by a sampling device, for example, at a constant cycle, and this is weighed one by one by an automatic weighing machine. When the arithmetic circuit control device receives the result, calculates it in a unit of a predetermined sampling number and compares it with a preset reference value, and when the deviation value is out of a predetermined range, a command to that effect and an amount is given. Send an electrical signal to the plunger automatic adjuster. Upon receipt of this command signal, the plunger automatic adjusting device automatically adjusts the vertical movement position of the plunger.

(Example) Hereinafter, the Example of this invention is described based on drawing.

FIG. 1 shows a typical embodiment of the present invention, which basically comprises the following six constituent parts.

That is, the powder filling section A, the capsule loading section B, the sampling device C, the automatic weighing device D, the arithmetic circuit control device E, and the plunger adjusting device F.

Of these, the powder filling section A and the capsule loading section B are the same as the conventional configuration shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, and there is no difference in their operation.

Therefore, the sampling device C, the automatic weighing device D, the arithmetic circuit control device E and the plunger adjusting device F will be mainly described below.

First, the sampling device C will be described. A sample extracting gripping device 16 is fixed to the tip of the arm 15 which is moved forward and backward and up and down by a drive source such as a cylinder and a servomotor (not shown). There is. The sample extracting gripping device 16 is arranged in the vicinity of the discharge station of the capsule loading section B, and is generally a lower segment on the lower surface.
From the sample extraction segment 16a having the same number and the same number of holes as the capsule holding holes 14 (FIG. 2) of 8, 9 and the vacuum source that propagates through the holes of the sample extraction segment 16a and the pipe and the switching valve. It is composed.

It is obvious that the above sampling device C is not limited to the illustrated one, and the point is that a predetermined number of capsules, preferably the same number as the capsule holding holes of the segment, are extracted from the discharge station of the capsule loading unit B at regular intervals, It is important to have the function of sending to the automatic weighing machine in the process. Adjustment of the plunger is done for each station,
It is desirable to obtain the deviation value by sampling and weighing the same number of capsules as the capsule holding holes of the segment, which can further improve the accuracy of the capsule powder filling capacity.

A rotary capsule constant quantity feeder 18 is arranged between the sampling device C and the automatic weighing device D. The rotary capsule feeder 18 has a sample receiving segment 17 in the upper part, and the capsules sent are sorted one by one by the rotary unit and sent to the automatic weighing machine D.

The automatic weighing device D measures the capsule weight one by _one , converts the measured value into an electric signal R ₁ and sends it to the next arithmetic circuit control unit E. A computer (microcomputer) is used as the arithmetic circuit control device E, and here, a signal from the automatic weighing device D is received in batch to process the weight data of the capsule. For example, the average weight, the maximum weight, the minimum weight, the coefficient of variation, etc. of the capsule are calculated and compared with the standard weight data set in advance. Further, these data are displayed on the screen or printed out. The arithmetic circuit compares the actual weight with the reference weight, further calculates the adjustment amount at the same position in the vertical direction of the plunger according to the deviation value, and sends an electric signal according to the amount to the plunger adjusting device F.

In the plunger adjusting device F, an arm 20 is cantilevered on a column 19, and a stepping motor 21 and a plunger adjusting drive unit 22 are arranged below the arm 20 by being connected to each other by a transmission device such as a belt. . The vertical movement position adjustment of the plunger is performed by changing the plunger level in the pressing device 23 by rotating the adjusting portion.

Now, the operation of the capsule filling machine according to this embodiment having the above-mentioned configuration will be described. As in the conventional case, the powder is compression-molded by the filling plunger 1 in five stages in the powder filling unit A, and the capsule filling unit An empty capsule body 13b held in the capsule holding hole 14 of the lower segment 9 is loaded with the above-mentioned compacted powder mass 7.

The capsule body 13a loaded with the lump 7 is fitted and integrated with the capsule cap 13a at the capsule loading portion B to become a capsule agent, and the lower surface of the capsule agent is pushed up by a pin from below at a discharging station to push the upper and lower segments 8a. At the same time, it is discharged from the machine due to the action of air.

The operating speed at this time is usually 1500 capsules / minute.

A predetermined number of the discharged capsules are sampled by the sampling device C at regular intervals. In this embodiment, sampling is performed once per minute. The number of samples at one time is one segment unit, that is, 12
Individual capsules are sampled simultaneously. this is,
Sampling of about 1% is performed every minute from the operating speed of the above machine.

For sampling, for example, every one minute, the sample withdrawing segment 16a is made to stand by in the vicinity of the upper part of the discharge station of the capsule loading section B, and the capsule agent ejected from the upper and lower segments 8 and 9 at the discharge station is taken out with the sample withdrawing segment 16a. In each hole, and this is vacuum-sucked and gripped and transferred onto the sample receiving segment 17 of the rotary capsule constant quantity feeder 18. The transferred sample withdrawing gripping device 16 automatically switches the switching valve to release the vacuum state, and the sample capsule is released from the grip and drops and passes through the corresponding hole of the sample receiving segment 17. Each capsule is supplied to the automatic weighing device D by the rotary capsule constant quantity feeder 18.

The automatic weighing device D measures the weight of the capsules sequentially sent, converts the result into an electric signal R ₁ for each capsule, and sends the electric signal R ₁ to the arithmetic circuit controller E.

When this signal is received, the arithmetic circuit control unit E performs various arithmetic processes as the actual weight data, compares it with a preset reference value, and when the deviation value is out of a predetermined range, outputs a signal R to the plunger adjustment unit. Send ₂ . This signal R ₂ is an electrical signal required to rotate the stepping motor 21 in proportion to the deviation value.

The stepping motor 21 receives the signal R ₂ and rotates a predetermined number of rotations (rotation angle) to rotate the plunger adjustment drive unit 22. By the rotation of the plunger adjustment drive unit 22, the vertical movement position of the plunger is adjusted.

The plunger adjusting device F can also use a cam, for example, and can be variously modified. Regarding the stations for adjusting the plunger, it is not necessary to perform it for all the stations.Generally, adjusting the plunger in the station in the first half for compressing and molding the drug powder often increases the weight deviation, so the latter half The process is preferable from the viewpoint of easy adjustment work and improvement in weight accuracy. In this embodiment, the station VI is used to adjust the plunger.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, it becomes possible to automate the filling of the powder in the capsule including the management thereof.

(Effects of the Invention) As described in detail above, according to the present invention, a series of operations of sampling, weight measurement, and weight control can be performed fully automatically while the machine is operating without manual work. It has various effects.

I. By automating the powder weight control, it is possible to increase the number of plunger adjustments incomparably higher than before, and the powder filling weight accuracy is significantly improved.

II. The weight can be adjusted without stopping the machine, and the production efficiency can be significantly improved.

III. Measurement data can be recorded automatically, and quality reliability is improved.

IV. Capsule filling machine can be operated unattended.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing an arrangement configuration of a capsule filling machine to which a powder weight adjusting apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied, FIG.
FIG. 4 is an enlarged perspective view for explaining the operation of the conventional capsule filling machine, FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the main part of the powder filling portion, and FIG.
FIGS. I to VI are partial cross-sectional views of each station showing the filling step of the powder filling section. Description of main parts of the drawing 1 ... Filling plunger, 3 ... Filling disk 4 ... Under plate, 7 ... Mass 8 ... Upper segment, 9 ... Lower segment A ... Powder filling part, B ... Capsule loading Part C: Sampling device, D: Automatic weighing device E: Arithmetic circuit control device, F: Plunger adjusting device

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── --- Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-55-162108 (JP, A) JP-A-52-78583 (JP, A) JP-A-50-70193 (JP, A) JP-A-50- 48627 (JP, A)

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A filling disk which is provided with a powder filling from an upper opening corresponding to a plurality of stations and which intermittently rotates corresponding to the stations, corresponding to the number of holes of the stations and the filling disk. A filling plunger for compressing and molding the powder filled by a predetermined stroke up and down movement a plurality of times to form a powder mass so that the powder weight becomes constant, and the powder mass is transferred to an empty capsule body. A plurality of pairs of upper and lower segments that rotate intermittently are provided with a powder filling portion that is provided with a transfer plunger corresponding to the number of holes, and the same number of capsules are held in the segment at a portion corresponding to the plunger. The upper and lower segments are sequentially loaded with empty capsules, the cap is removed, the powder mass is loaded, the cap is fitted, and the powder loading cap is provided. The capsule loading section is provided with an ejection station for ejecting the final product capsules out of the machine, and each of the filling discs And the capsule loading section has a different rotation axis, and one rotation axis is outside the rotation range of the other, and the mass of the compression-molded powder is held from the filling disk to the segment of the capsule loading section by the transfer plunger. A capsule loading portion adapted to rotate so as to partially overlap with the filling disk so as to be loaded into the empty capsule body, and a number of discharge capsules disposed in the vicinity of the discharge station and the same number as the plungers. A sampling device provided with a sample withdrawing gripping device for withdrawing a sample, and a rotor for sending the withdrawn capsules one by one to an automatic weigher -Capsule feeder, automatic weigher that measures the weight of each capsule sent in, and the vertical position of the plunger according to the deviation value compared with the reference set value based on the result of measurement by the automatic weigher And a stepping motor for adjusting the vertical movement position of the plunger in response to the signal, and a plunger adjustment drive section and a plunger. A capsule filling machine, comprising: a plunger adjusting device provided with a pressing device.