JPH0765923B2 - Filling amount weighing device in filling device - Google Patents

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a filling amount weighing device in a filling device, and more specifically, it is used in a manufacturing process of pharmaceuticals and the like, and is used in a container such as a vial and an ampoule, 50 mg, 100 mg, 500 mg, The present invention relates to an apparatus for automatically filling a minute powder or liquid such as 1000 mg and weighing the filled amount.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in the filling process of medicines of this type, the filling amount is generally checked by the following method.

Manually pull out the container filled with powder, liquid, etc. from the line, measure the balance with a balance installed offline, take out the contents (powder etc.), weigh the empty container,
Subtracting to calculate the filling amount.

When an automatic sampling and weighing device is installed on the production line, the empty container before filling is appropriately extracted and weighed, then returned to the line and filled, and after filling, it is again extracted and weighed, and the subtracted filling amount Is calculated.

In any of the above cases, if there is a difference between the calculated filling amount and the target amount, appropriate measures are taken to adjust the filling amount.

Generally, in a powder filling device, the filling amount changes due to changes over time in the bulk hopper level (charge amount), specific volume, physical properties, etc., and when filling liquids (including suspension agents), etc. Changes, the needle tip filter is clogged, the cylinder is loosened, and the like, so that the filling amount fluctuates. Therefore, the filling amount is checked at an appropriate frequency to adjust the filling amount.

However, in the filling step, in addition to the above-described change over time, an abnormal change in the filling amount may occur due to a sudden reason due to some trouble. At this time, it is not possible to check an abnormal filling amount due to a sudden reason with the above-mentioned conventional appropriate extraction check. Particularly in pharmaceutical products, the filling amount is required to maintain extremely high precision, and it is absolutely necessary to prevent defective products from being produced. there were.

The above-mentioned problem can be solved by total number weighing which weighs the filling amount for all the containers, but in the conventional weighing device, the weighing speed is slow compared to the filling speed, so when the total number is weighed, It was difficult to adopt because it was extremely difficult to use.

The present invention is intended to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a weighing device in a filling device that minimizes a decrease in productivity and enables 100% weighing.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a conveyor for supplying an empty container, a first electronic balance for weighing an empty container conveyed from the conveyor, and the first electronic balance. A powder filling machine for filling powder and liquid into a container conveyed from, a second electronic balance for weighing the filling container conveyed from the filling machine, and a carry-out for discharging the filling container weighed by the second electronic balance. The machine and a long working bar are attached with four chucks that are opened and closed by air drive at a predetermined interval.
A container transporting device provided with a drive mechanism for moving in the Y and Z directions, and by holding one container by each chuck of the container transporting device and moving the container along the same locus, To electronic balance, from first electronic balance to filling machine,
Four pieces are moved at a time from the filling machine to the second electronic balance and from the second electronic balance to the carry-out machine, and when filling the container, the empty weighing of the containers before and after that and the weighing after filling are performed, and the total number is weighed. The present invention is to provide a weighing device in a filling device.

Further, in the present invention, a defective product in which the filling container is discharged from the transport path when the filling amount calculated from the weighing values of the first electronic balance and the second electronic balance is out of the predetermined control width in the carry-out device. An excluding device may be installed, or the defective item excluding device may be provided in an appropriate line such as a transfer line from the unloader to the next step.

In the above device, specifically, a supply conveyor,
The first electronic balance, the filling machine, the second electronic balance, and the carry-out machine (including the carry-out machine provided with the defective product removing device) are installed in parallel on the base at the same fixed intervals, while the same as above. By attaching 4 chucks to the above-mentioned long working bar at regular intervals of, and moving these 4 chucks in the same trajectory in the X, Y, Z directions by the drive mechanism via the working bar. , 4 containers are moved at a time.

The above device is a container consisting of vials and ampoules
It is most preferably used when filling a small amount of powder or liquid such as g and 100 mg, and the first electronic balance and the second electronic balance used for weighing have a reading limit of about 0.1 mg or less. Therefore, it is suitable for a very small amount of weighing that outputs weighing data every 0.2 seconds or less.

In addition, in the first electronic balance and the second electronic balance, a metal cap is installed above the weighing pan so as to be able to move up and down by driving means, and when weighing an empty container and when weighing a container after filling with powder or liquid. The metal cap is lowered to cover the container placed on the weighing dish and the weighing dish itself so as to cover the weighing dish itself.

Further, as a filling machine for the powder, a cylindrical auger casing is attached to the tip of a funnel containing the powder, and an auger fixed to a rotation shaft is connected and arranged in the auger casing, and the rotation angle of the auger is set. An auger filling machine is used to measure the powder in small portions and fill the container. On the other hand, as a liquid filling machine, there is used a liquid filling machine for measuring and subdividing the liquid from a liquid tank by a plunger pump or a pressure control supply device such as a diaphragm type and filling the container.

Action As described above, in this device, on the production line,
Since the electronic balances are placed in front of and behind the filling machine, and the container transfer device that can transfer four pieces at a time is provided, while filling powder or liquid in one container, the electronic balance before and after The container can be weighed and the container after filling can be weighed. Therefore, according to the present apparatus, it is possible to carry out total weighing without lowering the efficiency of the filling action.

Further, at the time of weighing by the electronic balance, by covering the container with a conductor cap, the influence of static electricity and wind can be eliminated, and the weighing accuracy can be improved.

Examples Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to Examples shown in the drawings.

1 to 7 show a first embodiment of the present invention, in which a certain amount of powder is filled in a vial, and a defective product eliminating device is installed in a carry-out machine itself which moves after filling and weighing.

In FIG. 1 showing the whole apparatus of the first embodiment, 1 is a vial, which is a kind of container, 2 is a feed conveyor for empty vials, 3 is a first electronic balance for weighing empty vials, and 4 is a first electronic balance. A powder filling machine for filling powder into an empty vial after weighing with the electronic balance 3, 5 is a second electronic balance for weighing the vial after powder filling, and 6 is a defective product whose measured value is out of a predetermined control range. A carry-out machine with a defective product removing device to be removed (hereinafter referred to as a defective product removing device), 7 is a take-out conveyor, and 9 is a container carrying device. In order to convey the vial 1 to each of the above devices, a long operating bar 11 having four chucks 8A, 8B, 8C and 8D attached at regular intervals as shown in the figure is attached to a drive mechanism 12, and a base is attached. It is installed on 10.

The supply conveyor 2, the first electronic balance 3, the powder filling machine 4,
The second electronic balance 5 and the defective product removing device 6 are installed in parallel on the base 10 from the right side to the left side in FIG. 4 chucks 8A to 8D are simultaneously X, Y,
As shown in the figure, the container transfer device 9 that moves in the Z direction has a long operating bar 11 installed on a base 10 via an X, Y, Z drive mechanism 12, and the operating bar 11 has the above-mentioned structure. The supply conveyor 2 and the defective product removing device 6 arranged in parallel are installed at the same intervals. With the configuration, each of the chucks 8A to 8D described above
Is held by the operating bar 11 and is cyclically moved to the position of →→ ... → by the drive mechanism 12 along the locus shown in FIG. For example, in the chuck 8A, the retracted position corresponding to the supply conveyor 2 is used as a base point, and the chuck 8A moves in the Y direction to hold the vial 1 positioned at the tip at the exit position of the supply conveyor 2 with the chuck, and after holding, It moves in the Z direction and rises to the position, then moves in the X and Y directions and moves to a position between the first electronic balance 3 and the X and Y positions from the same position.
The first electronic balance 3 is moved to a position above the vial installation position of the first electronic balance 3, and is moved in the Z direction from the position to descend to the first position.
The electronic balance 3 is moved to the vial installation position, and the vial 1 is released from the chuck and placed at that position. After that, only the chuck moves in the Y direction and moves backward, and when it reaches the position,
It moved in the X direction and returned to its original position. The chuck
At the same time when the 8A moves, the other chucks 8B, 8C, 8D also move along the same locus. In this way, the chuck 8A conveys the supply conveyor 2 to the first electronic balance 3, the chuck 8B conveys the first electronic balance 3 to the powder filling machine 4, and the chuck 8C conveys the powder filling machine 4 to the second electronic balance 5. The transfer to the second electronic balance 5 by the chuck 8D and the transfer to the defective product removing device 6 are performed simultaneously by one container transfer device 9.

Each of the first electronic balance 3 and the second electronic balance 5 has a weighing pan 14 installed at the center of the upper surface of the electronic balance main body, and a metal cap 15 which is moved up and down by an air cylinder 16 is arranged above the weighing pan 14. ing. The metal cap 15 is made of a conductor and caps the vial 1 on the weighing dish 14 at the time of weighing. The diameter of the lower edge of the metal cap 15 is set to be larger than the diameter of the weighing dish 14, and the weighing dish 14 is capped. Not to contact with the first and second electronic balance main bodies 3a, 5a and the cap 15
The entire lower end surface of the vial abuts on the vial 1, and the vial 1 is set to a size that can be sufficiently shielded. When weighing, the metal cap 15
By blocking the weighing pan 14 and the vial 1 placed on it with the outside, the action of wind pressure can be prevented and the magnetic field with the outside is blocked, and the electrostatic force is applied to the weighing pan 14 by an external force. Can be prevented. Therefore, it is possible to prevent a weighing error from occurring due to static electricity and air in the room at the time of minute weighing, and it is possible to perform accurate weighing. As shown in FIG. 4, the first and second electronic balances 3 and 5 are weighed by using a chuck on the weighing pan 14 and the vial 1
After placing, the metal cap 15 is lowered to cover the vial 1 and the weighing dish 14, and after stabilizing for a required time, weighing is performed, and after weighing, the metal cap 15 is raised and the vial 1 Is taken out from the weighing pan 14 by a chuck. The first and second electronic balances 3 and 5 perform zeroing at a predetermined interval.

The weighed value of the empty vial 1 weighed by the first electronic balance 3 and the powder-filled vial 1 weighed by the second electronic balance 5
As shown in FIG. 7, the data of the weighing value is input to the first weighing data processing device 102 and the second weighing data processing device 103 provided in the control device 100 of the entire device. In the control device 100, the powder filling amount is calculated by subtracting the output value of the first weighing data processing device 102 from the output value of the second weighing data processing device 103, and the calculated value is calculated as the weighing data processing device.
The signal is output from the comparator 104 to the comparator 105, compared with the target value input in advance by the comparator 105, and if it is outside the range of the setting control width, a signal indicating a defective product is output to the sequencer 101. The defective product removing device 6 discharges the product according to an ON / OFF signal from the sequencer 101. That is, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the defective product removing device 6 stores the vials 1 in the vial storing recesses 18a formed at intervals on the outer peripheral portion of the star wheel 18 and stores them in FIG. It is rotated clockwise as shown. Take-out conveyor 7 in the rotation path
, And the shutter 19 is attached to the connecting portion,
When the shutter 19 is in the open position, the conveyed vial 1 is automatically carried out to the take-out conveyor 7, while the shutter is released.
When 19 is closed, it is guided to the reject-side passage 20 that is continuously provided and is taken out to the defective product receiving portion 30. The shutter 19 is the sequencer 101 of the control device 100 described above.
When the exclusion signal is output, the vial is closed and the vial whose filling amount is out of the predetermined control range is excluded.

The powder filling machine 4 used in this device is an auger powder filling machine as shown in FIG. 5, and the powder 22 put in the funnel 21 is rotated by a driving device 23.
The vial 1 mounted on the holder 27 is filled with a predetermined amount of powder through the screen 25 in accordance with the amount of rotation by 24. In the figure, reference numeral 26 is a skirt that is continuously provided under the screen 25. The operation of filling by the auger powder filling machine 4 is as shown in FIG.
After placing the empty vial 1 on the holder 27 of the powder filling machine 4, the holder 27 is raised and the skirt 26 is inserted into the upper end opening 1a of the vial 1. Then the auger 24
Rotate to fill the vial 1 with a predetermined amount of powder 22, and after the filling is completed, lower the holder 27 and return it to the home position, take out the vial 1 by the chuck 8C, and convey it to the second electronic balance 5. is doing.

As shown in FIG. 7, the control of the lifting operation of the holder 27 and the control of the drive mechanism 12 of the chucks 8A to 8D, the first
The sequencer 101 of the control device 100 controls the drive of the entire device including the control of the air cylinder 16 for moving up and down the metal caps 15 of the electronic balance 3 and the second electronic balance 5, the operation control of the shutter 19 of the defective product removing device, and the like. All are controlled automatically by the ON and OFF signals output from. still,
In FIG. 7, double-lined arrows represent data signals, dotted-line arrows represent synchronization signals, and alternate long and short-dashed lines represent ON / OFF control signals.

As described above, according to the present apparatus, all empty vials 1 supplied from the supply conveyor 2 are first charged in the first electronic balance 3
To the powder filling machine 4, and the powder is filled therein. All the vials 1 after powder filling are conveyed to the second electronic balance 5, after weighing, they are conveyed to the defective product discharging device 6, and the non-defective products are conveyed to the next step by the take-out conveyor 7. As described above, since the empty weighing and the weighing after filling are performed for all the vials, it is possible to reliably detect the one in which the filling amount is abnormal due to a sudden reason.

Further, four conveyors to the supply conveyor 2 → first electronic balance 3, first electronic balance 3 → powder filling machine 4, powder filling machine 4 → second electronic balance 5, second electronic balance 5 → defective product discharging device 6 Since the actions are performed at the same time, the front and rear vials 1 are empty-weighed and weighed after the filling while the powder is filled in one vial 1, so that the productivity of the filling action is hindered by the weighing. Instead, it is possible to efficiently weigh all of them.

FIG. 8 shows a second embodiment of the present invention. The carry-out machine installed on the base of the present apparatus is not provided with a defective product removing device, and the carry-out machine 6'installed on the base is Separately, it is installed in the middle of the transfer conveyor 7'from the unloader to the next process. That is, at the position where the vial 1 is conveyed from the second electronic balance 5 while being held by the chuck 8D, the carry-in port 6'a of the carry-out machine 6'is provided.
, And the vial 1 after being weighed by the second electronic balance 5.
Are sequentially conveyed to the carry-in port 6'a by the chuck 8D.
A defective product eliminating device 50 is arranged in the path of the conveyor 7'connected from the carry-out device 6 '. The defective product removing device 50
Is composed of a sensor 51 for detecting the vial 1 conveyed to the conveyor 7'and passing therethrough, and an air cylinder 52 for pushing out the vial arranged at a position downstream of the sensor 51. In the defective product removing device 50, as shown in FIG. 9 and FIG. 10, when the sensor 51 detects that the vial 1 certified as a defective product from the weighing result has passed, based on the detection signal. Drive the air cylinder 52, project the rod 52a of the air cylinder 52 onto the conveyor 7 ', and place the defective vial 1 on the side of the conveyor.
Discharging to 30 '.

As described above, the defective product removing device may be attached to the carry-out device of the filling and weighing device, or may be separately installed at an appropriate position in the line downstream of the device. In addition, it goes without saying that various conventionally known mechanisms can be adopted as the vial removing mechanism.

FIG. 11 and FIG. 12 show a third embodiment of the present invention used for filling / weighing a liquid, and a plunger type liquid filling machine 60 for filling a vial 1 with a liquid medicine is shown in FIG. It is used in place of the auger powder filling machine 4 shown in FIG.

As shown in the figure, the liquid filling machine 60 connects a drug solution take-out tube 63 to a drug solution tank 62 which stores a drug solution 61 to be filled in the vial 1, and a plunger pump 64 to the tube 63.
Is installed. The tube 63 is attached to the elevating mechanism 65, and a chemical liquid filling needle 66 is attached to the tip thereof.

The operation at the time of filling the liquid is the same as that of the first embodiment at the time of filling the powder, and after the empty weighing of the vial is performed by the first electronic balance, it is gripped and moved by the chuck 8B to fill the liquid medicine at the filling position. It is located below needle 66. Then, the lifting mechanism
The drug solution filling needle 66 is lowered by 65 and inserted into the vial 1. Then, the plunger pump 64 is operated to fill the vial 1 with a predetermined amount of the drug solution 61 from the tank 62 through the tube 63. After the filling, the elevating mechanism 65 is used to fill the filling needle.
Lift 66 and remove from vial 1. After that, the vial 1 is grasped and moved by the chuck 8C and moved to the second electronic balance 5. Since the other operations are the same as those in the first embodiment, the description thereof will be omitted.

The liquid filling machine is not limited to the above-mentioned plunger type, and a conventionally known appropriate minute amount of liquid filling machine such as a pressure control type liquid filling machine using a diaphragm can be used.

Effect As is clear from the above description, according to the apparatus of the present invention, in the filling line, the empty container and the filled container are weighed before and after the filling machine for filling the powder or liquid into the container. By installing an electronic balance and a container transport device that holds four containers at a time and transports them to the next different positions, the container can be filled with an object to be filled (powder, liquid, etc.). It is possible to efficiently weigh the empty container before and after and the container after filling while it is in operation. As described above, by incorporating the weighing means into the filling step, the weighing and filling can be performed efficiently, and therefore, the productivity of the filling step is not impaired even if the total number is weighed.

As described above, by weighing the total amount of filling, it is possible to reliably detect abnormalities in the filling amount caused by sudden causes and reject defective products, and achieve the guarantee of the total filling amount of products. It has an epoch-making effect.

Further, in this device, the first balance is transferred from the conveyor to the first balance.
Since the containers are individually conveyed by chucks from the balance to the filling machine, from the filling machine to the second balance, and from the second balance to the unloading machine, they easily occur when they are conveyed by a conventional conveyor or the like. Stable handling can be achieved with no overturning of the container or damage that is likely to occur on the star wheel. Furthermore, since the weighing means uses an electronic balance and is configured to cover the metal cap during weighing, the weighing accuracy can be improved and a high degree of weighing can be performed even when the filling amount is minute. In addition, since an auger screw filling machine is used as a powder filling machine for the container, it has various advantages such that the filling amount can be accurately controlled.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall perspective view of the first embodiment according to the present invention, and FIG.
The figure is a schematic plan view showing the arrangement relationship of the main components, FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the movement of the chucks 8A to 8D, and FIG. 4 is the balance 3,
Fig. 5 is a drawing showing the weighing action, Fig. 5 is a sectional view of the main part of the powder filling machine, Fig. 6 is a diagram showing the filling action, Fig. 7 is a block diagram showing the control mechanism of this device, and Fig. 8 is A general perspective view similar to FIG. 1 showing a second embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 9 and 10 are schematic views showing the defective product removing action of the second embodiment.
FIG. 11 is a drawing showing a third embodiment of the present invention using a liquid filling machine, and FIG. 12 is a schematic view showing the action at the time of liquid filling of FIG. 1 ... Vial, 2 ... Supply conveyor, 3 ... First electronic balance, 4 ... Powder filling machine, 5 ... Second electronic balance, 6 ... Unloader equipped with defective product removing device, 7, 7 ′ …… Conveyor, 8A, 8B, 8C, 8D …… Chuck, 9 …… Container transfer device, 11 …… Operating bar, 14 …… Balance plate, 15 …… Metal cap, 19 …… Shutter, 27 …… Holder , 50 …… rejecting device, 60 …… liquid filling machine. 100 ... Control device.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (56) References Japanese Patent Publication Sho 58-52918 (JP, B2) Actual Publication 61-4822 (JP, Y2)

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A conveyor for supplying empty containers and a first container for weighing empty containers successively conveyed from the conveyor.
An electronic balance, a filling machine for filling powder or liquid into the container conveyed from the first electronic balance, a second electronic balance for weighing the filled container conveyed from the filling machine, and a weighing with the second electronic balance The unloader for unloading the filled containers is installed in parallel on the base at the same fixed intervals, while the four container holding chucks are attached at the same fixed intervals as above. A long operating bar and the operating bar, X,
It moves in the same loci in the Y and Z directions, holds one container each by the chucks, and moves from the supply conveyor to the first container.
Equipped with a container transfer device equipped with an electronic balance, a first electronic balance to a filling machine, a filling machine to a second electronic balance, and a drive mechanism for moving four electronic balances to a carry-out machine at a time, to a container A filling amount weighing device in a filling device, characterized in that a blank weighing before and after the filling and a weighing after filling are performed at the time of filling, and a total number is weighed. 2. A defective product for discharging a filling container from the carrying path when the filling amount calculated from the weighing values of the first electronic balance and the second electronic balance is out of a predetermined control range in the carry-out machine. The exclusion device is installed, The claim 1 characterized by the above-mentioned.
The described device. 3. The container according to claim 1, wherein the container is composed of a vial, an ampoule, etc., and the filling material to be filled in these containers is a very small amount of powder or liquid such as 50 mg or 100 mg. Equipment. 4. In the first electronic balance and the second electronic balance, a metal cap is installed above the weighing pan so as to be able to move up and down by driving means, and the empty container is weighed and the container after filling with powder or liquid is used. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, when weighing, the metal cap is lowered to cover the container placed on the weighing dish and the weighing dish itself so as to cover the container. 5. As the powder filling machine, a cylindrical auger casing is attached to the tip of a funnel containing the powder, and an auger fixed to a rotating shaft is connected and arranged in the auger casing. 2. An apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an auger filling machine for filling powder into a container by measuring powder into a container according to a rotation angle of the container. 6. A liquid filling machine for metering and subdividing a liquid into a container from a liquid tank by a pressure control supply device such as a plunger pump or a diaphragm type is used as the liquid filling device. Claim 1 characterized by
The described device.