JPH11201904A - Device for inspecting side surface of flat tablet and device for visual inspection provided with the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a side surface inspecting device capable of satisfactorily inspecting the side surfaces of not only circular flat tablets but also tablets in miscellaneous shapes such as elliptical, oblong, triangle, quadrangle, polygonal shapes. SOLUTION: A tablet t' in an erect state of being exposed more than halfway from the peripheral surface of the first side surface inspecting drum 61 is held at the holding pocket 611 of the drum 61, and the image of the side surface of the tablet t' is picked up by the first image pickup device 63 without rotating the tablet t'. Next, by transferring the tablet t' to the holding pocket 621 of the second side surface inspecting drum 62. the tablet t' is held in a reverse erect state of being exposed more than halfway from the peripheral surface of the drum 62 reverse to the state of being held at the first side surface inspecting drum 61. With this state maintained, the image of the side surface of the remaining half is picked up by the second image pickup device 64 without rotating the tablet t'. By this, a side surface inspecting device obtains the overall side surface of the tablet t' by picking up the image of the side surface of the tablet t' approximately half by half with the two side surface inspecting drums and the two image pickup devices.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a flat tablet which is transported in an upright state with the radial direction up and down, and a side face image of the tablet is obtained by taking an image of the side face of the tablet by an imaging device during the transport. A side surface inspection device that determines the presence or absence of an appearance defect from the obtained image, and a combination of the side inspection device and a front and back surface inspection unit that performs an inspection of the front and back surfaces of the tablet to inspect the side surface and the front and back surfaces of the flat tablet. The appearance inspection device will be described in more detail.
The present invention relates to a side surface inspection device capable of performing a side inspection even on a so-called irregularly shaped tablet such as an ellipse, a square, and a polygon, and a flat tablet appearance inspection device provided with the side inspection device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a visual inspection for inspecting a tablet for foreign matter adhesion or dirt, or deformation such as chipping or cracking, or defects such as poor printing has been carried out by using a visual inspection device. When a flat tablet is automatically inspected using such a visual inspection device, the flat tablet is placed in an upright posture with its radial direction up and down, a prone position with its thickness direction up and down, In addition, the tablets are transported while sequentially changing their postures to the prone posture inverted upside down in the prone posture, and the tablets in each posture are photographed by a camera during the conveyance to obtain a side surface image, a front surface image, and a back surface image of the tablet. A method of detecting the above-mentioned defect by performing image processing on each image is adopted.

As an example of such a tablet appearance inspection apparatus, an inspection apparatus shown in FIG. 11 can be exemplified. That is, this visual inspection device is composed of a number of flat tablets (hereinafter, referred to as “tablets”) housed in the hopper 11.
Supply unit 1 that supplies the tablet to the inspection mechanism unit, and a side inspection unit 2 including a side inspection drum 21 and a side image pickup device 22
And a posture conversion unit 3 having a posture conversion drum 31, a front surface inspection drum 41, a back surface inspection drum 42, and a front surface imaging device 4.
3. Front / back inspection unit 4 having back imaging device 44, sorting drum 51, good product collection conveyor 52, and defective product collection can 5
And a determination unit (not shown) that performs image processing on the images obtained by the three imaging devices 22, 43, and 44 to detect the presence or absence of a defective appearance. In the figure, 221, 431, 441 are cameras, 22,
Reference numerals 2,432,442 denote lighting devices.

The appearance inspection by this appearance inspection apparatus is performed according to the following procedure. A large number of tablets randomly supplied from the hopper 11 are supplied to the side surface inspection drum 21 of the side surface inspection unit 2 in an upright state (hereinafter, simply referred to as an “upright state”) in which the tablets are supplied up and down in the radial direction by the tablet supply unit 1. The tablets are continuously supplied, the tablets are stored in an upright state in the holding pockets of the side surface inspection drum 21, and the tablets are transported downward by the rotation of the drum 21, and the tablets being transported are placed in the holding pockets. While rotating, the image is taken by the side surface imaging device 22 to obtain an image of the entire side surface of the tablet. The tablet is transferred to the posture conversion drum 31 of the posture conversion unit 3, and the flat tablet in the upright state is moved by the drum 31. After being turned down to a flat state in which the thickness direction is up and down (hereinafter simply referred to as “flat state”), it is transferred to the surface inspection drum 41 of the front and back surface inspection unit 4, and the outer peripheral surface of the surface inspection drum 41 The drum 41 to form tablets receiving pocket to accommodate the tablets in the lying state
The tablet is conveyed downward by the rotation of, and the tablet being conveyed is photographed by the imaging device 43 to obtain a front surface image of the tablet. The tablet is transferred to the back surface inspection drum 42 and the back surface inspection drum 42 The flat tablet is conveyed downward by the rotation of the drum 42 while being stored in an inverted flat state in the tablet storing pocket, and the flat tablet being conveyed is photographed by the image pickup device 44 to produce a backside image of the tablet. Then, the tablets are transferred to the sorting drum 51 of the sorting section 5, and the defective tablets are removed according to the inspection result obtained by performing image processing on the side image, the front image, and the back image. To the non-defective product collection conveyor 52
It is transferred to the collection container c and collected. In the present invention, "up and down" with respect to the tablet is "up and down" with the outer side being "up" and the center side being "down" along the radial direction of each drum. Do not always match.

[0005]

However, in this appearance inspection apparatus, the tablets stored in an upright state in the holding pocket of the side inspection drum 21 are photographed by the side image pickup device 22 while rotating in the holding pocket. Then, an image of the entire side surface of the tablet is obtained, and the image is inspected for the appearance of the side surface. Therefore, when the tablet is a circular flat tablet, the appearance inspection of the side surface is preferably performed. However, if the tablet to be inspected is a so-called irregularly shaped tablet such as an ellipse, an oblong, a triangle, a quadrangle, or a polygon that cannot be rotated well in the holding pocket, a side inspection should be performed. There is a disadvantage that it cannot be performed.

That is, as shown in FIG. 12, the side surface inspection drum 21 constituting the conventional side surface inspection unit 2 has a fixed inner cylinder 211 and an outer cylinder rotatably mounted along the outer periphery thereof. And the inner cylinder 21
1, a rotation roller 213 is rotatably provided inside with an outer peripheral surface thereof exposed to the outer peripheral surface of the inner cylindrical body 211. The outer cylindrical body 212 has a through-hole-shaped holding pocket 2 in the outer cylindrical body 212.
14 are formed.

The tablets t supplied from the supply unit 1 are stored in the holding pockets 214 of the outer cylinder 212 in an upright state, and the tablets t are kept in the upright state by the intermittent rotation of the outer cylinder 212. The tablet t is conveyed downward while rolling on the outer peripheral surface of the inner cylinder 211, and the tablet t is ridden on the rotation roller 213 at the position of the rotation roller 213 of the inner cylinder 211, and the outer cylinder 212 is intermittently moved. While stopped, tablets t
Is rotated at a predetermined speed while being held upright in the holding pocket 214 by the rotation of the rotation roller 213, and the tablet t rotating in this upright state is taken from the side surface imaging device 22 (FIG. 1).
1), and captures a side image of the tablet t.

Therefore, there is no problem if the tablet t to be inspected is a circular tablet which can be smoothly rotated in an upright state. However, the tablet t may be a special one such as the tablet t 'shown in FIG. In the case of a so-called irregularly shaped tablet such as an elliptical shape, an oblong shape, a triangular shape, a rectangular shape, a polygonal shape, etc., it is difficult to rotate these irregularly shaped tablets on the rotation roller 213. Even if the tablet can be rotated, the posture of the tablet during rotation is extremely unstable, and it is almost impossible to obtain an image with sufficient accuracy for visual inspection.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and it is an object of the present invention to perform a good side inspection not only on circular flat tablets but also on so-called odd-shaped tablets such as elliptical, oblong, triangular, square, and polygonal tablets. It is an object of the present invention to provide a side surface inspection device capable of performing the above-mentioned, and a flat tablet appearance inspection device provided with the side surface inspection device.

[0010]

According to the present invention, in order to achieve the above object, a flat tablet is transported in an upright state with the radial direction up and down, and a side surface of the tablet is photographed by an imaging device during the transport. In a side surface inspection apparatus that obtains a side image of the tablet and determines the presence or absence of appearance defect from the obtained image, a large number of holding pockets that hold the flat tablet in an upright state where half or more are exposed are formed on the outer peripheral surface so as to be aligned. A first side inspection drum rotating at a predetermined speed, and a large number of holding pockets for holding the flat tablet in an upright state where half or more are exposed are formed on the outer peripheral surface so as to be aligned, and are formed on the outer peripheral surface of the first side inspection drum. It is disposed with its own outer peripheral surface close to,
A second side inspection drum that rotates in synchronization with the first side inspection drum, a first imaging device that photographs a flat tablet held in the holding pocket of the first side inspection drum, and the second side inspection drum And a second imaging device for photographing the flat tablet held in the holding pocket of the first side inspection drum. While holding in the state, the first side inspection drum is transported by rotation, and the exposed side surface of the flat tablet is photographed by the first imaging device during the transportation, so that an image of a half side surface of the flat tablet is obtained. Then, the flat tablet is delivered to the holding pocket of the second side inspection drum, and the flat tablet is held in the holding pocket in an upright inverted state in which half or more of the flat tablet is exposed from the outer peripheral surface of the drum. The two-sided inspection drum is transported by rotation, and the exposed side surface of the flat tablet is photographed by the second imaging device during the transportation to obtain an image of the other half of the flat tablet. A flat tablet side inspection device is provided.

That is, the side surface inspection apparatus of the present invention has the first
The tablet is held in an upright state in which at least half of the tablet is exposed from the outer peripheral surface of the side inspection drum in the holding pocket of the side inspection drum, and the side is photographed by the first imaging device without rotating the tablet. By transferring the tablet to the holding pocket of the inspection drum, the tablet is held in an inverted upright state in which at least half of the tablet is inverted from the state held by the first side inspection drum and is exposed from the outer peripheral surface of the drum. By photographing the other half side with the second imaging device without rotating the tablet, two side inspection drums and 2
One side of the tablet is photographed approximately half by one imager,
An image of the entire side surface is obtained.

As described above, according to the side inspection apparatus of the present invention, the entire side surface is photographed while the tablets are stably held in the holding pockets of the first and second side inspection drums without rotating. Therefore, even if the flat tablet to be inspected is a so-called irregular tablet, such as an ellipse, an oblong, a triangle, a square, or a polygon, which is difficult to rotate, an image of the entire side surface can be extremely stably displayed. It is possible to perform an advanced and highly reliable side inspection by using a high-precision image that can be captured.

The present invention also provides a flat tablet appearance inspection apparatus using the above-described side inspection apparatus according to the present invention, a side inspection section comprising the above-described side inspection apparatus, and a second side inspection section of the side inspection section. An attitude conversion unit that receives the flat tablet in an upright state from the drum and converts the attitude of the flat tablet into a flat state with the thickness direction up and down, and receives the flat tablet in a flat state from the attitude conversion unit, and converts the flat tablet in a flat state to the outer peripheral surface. A surface inspection drum that transports the tablets by rotating at a predetermined speed while holding the peripheral surface of the surface inspection drum close to the outer surface of the surface inspection drum. Receiving the tablet, holding the tablet on the outer peripheral surface in an upside down state, and rotating the tablet at a predetermined speed to transport the tablet, and photographing the tablet held on the surface of the surface inspection drum A front surface imaging device for capturing a front surface image of the tablet, a back surface imaging device for capturing a tablet held on the outer peripheral surface of the back surface inspection drum and capturing a back surface image of the tablet, a captured side image, front surface image, and back surface A quality determination unit that performs image processing on each image to determine the presence or absence of appearance defects, and sorts and collects non-defective tablets with no appearance defects and defective tablets with appearance defects according to the determination result by the quality determination unit. A flat tablet appearance inspection apparatus, comprising:

In this appearance inspection apparatus, after a side image of a tablet is captured by the above-described side inspection apparatus of the present invention, the tablet is conveyed by the second side inspection drum of the above-described side inspection apparatus constituting the side inspection section. The flat tablet in the state is posture-changed to the prone state by the posture conversion unit, transferred to the surface inspection drum and transported in the prone state, and a surface image is captured by the surface imaging device during the transportation, and then the tablet Is transferred to the back side inspection drum and transported by the back side inspection drum in a flat state in which the surface is turned upside down, and a back side image is taken in by the back side imaging device during the conveyance, and the pass / fail judgment is performed from the taken side image, front side image and back side image. The part is used to determine the presence or absence of defective appearance, and based on the determination result, the non-defective tablets and the defective tablets are separated and collected. A.

Therefore, according to this appearance inspection apparatus, it is possible to automatically perform the entire inspection of the side surface, the front surface and the back surface of the tablet, and since the above-described side inspection device of the present invention is used as the side inspection unit, The flat tablets to be tested are oval,
Even with so-called odd-shaped tablets such as oblong, triangular, quadrangular, polygonal, etc., it is possible to perform a good appearance inspection on the entire side surface, front surface and back surface.

[0016]

Embodiments and examples of the present invention will be described below.
The present invention will be described more specifically. FIG. 1 shows a tablet appearance inspection apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention.
, Ie, constricted parts a, a in the center of both sides
And for performing an appearance inspection on a substantially rectangular flat tablet t ′ whose four corners are chamfered and which has a valley-shaped dividing line b on one side so as to connect the constricted portions a and a. is there.

This visual inspection apparatus comprises a tablet supply unit 1 for supplying a large number of tablets contained in a hopper 11 to an inspection mechanism, a first side inspection drum 61 and a second side inspection drum 6.
2, the side inspection unit 6 including the first imaging device 63 and the second imaging device 64, the posture conversion unit 7 having the posture conversion drum 71, the front surface inspection drum 81, the back surface inspection drum 82, the front surface imaging device 83, and the back surface imaging Although not shown, the front and back surface inspection unit 8 having the device 84 and the sorting unit 9 having the defective product discharge nozzle 91 and the non-defective product discharge nozzle 92 and the non-defective product recovery conveyor 93 disposed in the back surface inspection drum 82 are not shown. A determination unit that performs image processing on the images captured by the four imaging devices 63, 64, 83, and 84 to detect the presence or absence of a defective appearance;

The tablet supply unit 1 includes a rough sorter 16 for removing tablets that are greatly deformed such as a double tablet (tablets in which two tablets are attached to each other) from a group of tablets supplied from the hopper 11. The tablets t ′ randomly supplied from the sorter 16 are aligned in an upright state, and
And an alignment supply device 12 that continuously supplies the liquid to the apparatus.

The alignment supply device 12 is arranged so as to be inclined downward by a predetermined angle from one end to the other end, and has a supply pipe 15 connected to the other end of the substrate 13 that is finely vibrated by the vibration feeder 14. The tablets t ′ randomly supplied from the rough sorter 16 to the tablet container 131 provided at one end of the substrate 13 are aligned with the alignment grooves formed on the upper surface of the substrate 13 by the vibration of the vibration feeder 14. (Not shown) in an upright state, thereby controlling the posture of the tablet t ′ in the upright state, and aligning the tablets t ′ in a tandem state along the major axis direction L (see FIG. 10).
5 and is supplied to the side inspection unit 6. Here, the tip of the supply pipe 15 is shown in FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 3, the tip is in the state of being close to the outer peripheral surface of the first side inspection drum 61 constituting the side inspection section 6, and the peripheral wall of this tip is shown in FIGS. ), The peripheral wall 15a on the front side in the rotation direction (clockwise direction in the figure) of the first side surface inspection drum 61 is slightly shorter than the rear side.

Next, as shown in FIG. 2, a large number of holding pockets 611 are formed on the outer peripheral surface of the first side surface inspection drum 61 constituting the side surface inspection section 6 so as to be aligned. The holding pocket 611 has a deep bottom portion 612 on the front side in the rotation direction of the drum and a shallow bottom portion 613 on the rear side. The deep bottom portion 612 and the shallow bottom portion 6
13 are provided with suction holes 614 and 615, respectively.

A first suction shoe 616 is provided partially on the apparatus main body to which the first side inspection drum 61 is attached near the uppermost portion of the drum 61 (near the supply point of the tablet t '). And a second suction shoe 617 is formed continuously from near the uppermost portion to near the lowermost portion of the drum 61 (near the tablet delivery portion to the second side surface inspection drum 62) along the rotation direction of the drum 61. The first suction shoe 616 has a suction hole 614 in the deep bottom portion 612.
And the deep bottom portion 612 is sucked in the vicinity of the uppermost portion, and the second suction shoe 617 is provided with the suction hole 615 of the shallow bottom portion 613.
And the shallow bottom portion 613 is sucked from the vicinity of the uppermost portion to the vicinity of the lowermost portion. A compressed air shoe 618 is provided at a position corresponding to the lowermost portion of the drum 61 of the apparatus main body (a place where tablets are delivered to the second side surface inspection drum 62).
Is provided on the compressed air shoe 618.
13, the suction holes 615 of the second side inspection drum 6
The compressed air is supplied into the holding pocket 611 at the point where the tablet 2 is delivered.

Next, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the second side surface inspection drum 62 constituting the side surface inspection unit 6 is provided below the first side surface inspection drum 61. The outer peripheral surface of the drum 61 is rotatably arranged in a state where the outer peripheral surface thereof is close to the outer peripheral surface thereof. A large number of holding pockets 621 are provided on the outer peripheral surface of the holding pocket 611 of the first side inspection drum 61. And a suction hole 622 is provided in each holding pocket 621. This second
In the apparatus main body to which the side inspection drum 62 is attached, the vicinity of the lowermost portion of the drum 62 (posture change) along the rotation direction of the drum 62 from the uppermost portion of the drum 62 (the tablet delivery portion from the first side inspection drum 61). A suction shoe 623 is provided continuously to the vicinity of the tablet delivery portion to the drum 71), and a compressed air shoe 624 is provided at a position corresponding to the lowermost portion of the drum 62 (tablet delivery location to the posture conversion drum 71). And the suction shoe 62
3 matches the suction hole 622, and the holding pocket 621
Is sucked from the uppermost portion where the tablet t ′ is delivered to the vicinity of the lowermost portion.
And compressed air is supplied into the holding pocket 621 at the location where the tablet is delivered to the attitude conversion drum 71. As shown in FIGS. 2, 4, and 5, a communication plate 67 is provided between the second side inspection drum 62 and a posture conversion drum 71 described later. A communication groove 671 penetrating corresponding to the holding pocket 621 is formed in a comb-like shape.

The first imaging device 63 and the second imaging device 64 constituting the side inspection unit 6 are cameras 65 and 6 respectively.
6 and lighting devices 651 and 661, respectively, the first side inspection drum 61 and the second side inspection drum 6
2 at predetermined positions on the lighting devices 651, 66
The camera 65 and the camera 66 take a picture while illuminating with the light 1, thereby holding pockets 611 of the first side inspection drum 61 and holding pockets 6 of the second side inspection drum 62.
A side image of the tablet t ′ held and conveyed by 21 is taken in.

Next, the posture changing section 7 moves the tablet t 'upright from the second side inspection drum 62 of the side inspection section 6.
This is converted into a flat state and transferred to a front surface inspection drum 81 of the front and back surface inspection unit 8 described later, and as shown in FIG. It is arranged with the outer peripheral surface close to the lower side,
The attitude conversion drum 71 is configured to rotate at a predetermined speed, and a cover plate 72 is provided along the outer peripheral surface of the attitude conversion drum 71.

As shown in FIG. 5, the attitude converting drum 71 has a plurality of attitude converting pockets 711 formed on the outer peripheral surface thereof in a state aligned with the holding pockets 621 of the second side inspection drum 62. I have. In addition, suction passages 712 are formed in the outer peripheral wall of the posture conversion drum 71 along the axial direction corresponding to the rows of the posture conversion pockets 711, and the suction passages 712 are formed by suction holes 713. 711. The suction passage 712 coincides with a suction shoe (not shown) provided in the apparatus main body between a portion receiving the tablet t ′ from the second side inspection drum 62 and a position where the cover plate 72 is provided. In this state, the inside of each posture conversion pocket 711 is sucked through the suction passage 712 and the suction hole 713, and this suction is not performed in other portions.

As shown in FIG. 4, the bottom surface of the posture changing pocket 711 is inclined downward from one end to the other end, and the suction hole 713 is formed in the bottom surface of the other end. In addition, as described above, the attitude conversion pocket 711 is provided corresponding to the holding pocket 621 of the second side inspection drum 62. However, as shown in FIG. 62 holding pockets 6
Reference numeral 21 communicates with one end of each of the posture changing pockets 711 through a communication groove 671 of the communication plate 67.

As shown in FIG. 1, the cover plate 72 disposed along the outer peripheral surface of the attitude conversion drum 71 is the second side surface of the outer circumference of the attitude conversion drum 71. It is arranged so as to cover the lower part of the half-peripheral portion from receiving the tablet t ′ from the inspection drum 62 to passing it to the surface inspection drum 81 described below along the peripheral surface of the attitude conversion drum 71, This allows the posture conversion pocket 7
The tablets t ′ contained in the cartridge 11 are not spilled.

The front and back surface inspection section 8 is provided with the outer peripheral surface close to the lower side of the attitude conversion drum 71 and rotates at the same peripheral speed as the attitude conversion drum 71. The tablet t ′ whose posture has been changed to the prone state by the posture conversion drum 71 is held and transported on the outer peripheral surface, and is taken by a surface imaging device 83 to capture a surface image of the tablet t ′. The tablet t ′ is delivered to the back surface inspection drum 82 that is disposed with the outer peripheral surface close to the lower surface of the 81 and rotates at the same peripheral surface speed as the surface inspection drum 81, and the tablet t ′ is turned upside down. The outer surface of the tablet t 'is inspected by holding the image on the outer peripheral surface of the back surface inspection drum 82 and transporting the image. Things.

As shown in FIG. 5, a plurality of suction holes 811 are provided on the outer surface of the surface inspection drum 81 so that the attitude conversion pocket 7 provided on the attitude conversion drum 71 has the same shape.
11 are formed in an aligned state. Also,
The suction hole 811 is provided in the outer peripheral wall of the surface inspection drum 81.
A suction / pressure air passage 812 is formed along the axial direction in correspondence with the row of. The suction / pressure air passage 812 communicates with the suction hole 811. The suction / pressurized air passage 812 is provided on the main body of the apparatus in a portion from a portion receiving the tablet t ′ from the attitude conversion drum 71 to a portion immediately before transferring the tablet t ′ to the back surface inspection drum 82. (Not shown), and each suction hole 811 is sucked through this suction / pressure air passage 812.
At the portion where the tablet t 'is transferred to the back surface inspection drum 82, the suction / pressure air passage 812 is aligned with a pressure air ejection hole (not shown) provided in the apparatus main body.
Compressed air is ejected from each suction hole 811 through the compressed air passage 812.

As shown in FIG. 5, the back surface inspection drum 82 has an inner cylindrical drum 85 fixed to the main body of the apparatus, and the same outer surface inspection drum 81 as the surface inspection drum 81 outside the inner cylindrical drum 85. The outer drum 86 is arranged so as to rotate at the peripheral speed. The outer drum 86 has
A large number of suction holes 861 penetrating the peripheral wall are formed in alignment with suction holes 811 provided in the surface inspection drum 81. On the other hand, on the inner cylinder drum 85, a suction groove 851 is formed along the circumferential direction corresponding to the suction hole 861 of the outer cylinder drum 86, and the suction groove 851 From the part receiving 'the tablet t' to the vicinity of the lower part of the inner drum 85, which separates the tablet t 'into non-defective and defective products, penetrates the peripheral wall of the inner drum 85, and the lower part of the inner drum 85 performs the above separation. It is a bottomed groove that is opened only on the outer peripheral surface of the inner drum 85 without penetrating. The inside of the inner cylinder drum 85 is constantly sucked by vacuum, and the suction holes 861 of the outer drum 86 are sucked through the suction grooves 851.

As shown in FIGS. 6 to 9, each of the outer surface drums 86 of the front surface inspection drum 81 and the back surface inspection drum 82 has the suction holes 811 and 8
A rubber band 87 having a circular cross section is wound along the circumferential direction with 61 interposed therebetween. That is, as shown in FIG. 7, a plurality of band mounting grooves 871 and 871 are formed on the outer peripheral surfaces of the surface inspection drum 81 and the outer cylindrical drum 86 with the suction holes 811 and 861 interposed therebetween. As shown in FIG. 8, the rubber band 87 is fitted and fixed in the band mounting grooves 871 and 871, and the rubber band 87 is fixed to the surface inspection drum 81,
The outer drum 86 is attached so as to protrude from the outer peripheral surface thereof. Also, as shown in FIG. 7, a bending recess 872 in which the groove is partially deepened is formed in the band mounting groove 871 corresponding to a portion where the suction holes 811 and 861 are formed. As shown in FIG. 8, the rubber band 87 is formed by the bending recess 872.
The bending allowance of the rubber band 87 is formed on the lower side.

The front surface inspection drum 81 and the back surface inspection drum 82 constituting the front and back surface inspection unit 8 both hold and transport the tablet on its surface in a flat state. In this case, FIG. As shown in the drawing, the suction holes 811 and 861 of the outer cylindrical drum 86 of the front surface inspection drum 81 and the back surface inspection drum 82 are brought into a suction state by the above-described mechanism.
861, the two rubber bands 87,
The tablet t 'is conveyed by being rotated by rotation of the surface inspection drum 81 and the outer cylinder drum 86 in this state. Then, during the transport, the front and back images of the tablet t 'are captured by the front and back surface imaging devices 83 and 84, respectively, and the appearance inspection of the front and back surfaces is performed. The front surface imaging device 83 includes a camera 831 and two illumination devices 832, and the back surface imaging device 84 similarly includes a camera 841 and two illumination devices 842.
Further, reference numerals 88 and 89 in FIG. 1 denote recovery cans for recovering poorly transported tablets t 'which were not successfully transferred to the next step.

Next, as shown in FIG. 5, a defective product discharged to the suction groove 851 formed in the inner drum 85 is formed below the inner drum 85 of the back surface inspection drum 82. A nozzle 91 is formed for each suction groove 851, and although omitted in the figure, a compressed air distribution pipe is connected to each defective product discharge nozzle 91, and compressed air flows from this defective product discharge nozzle 91 at any time according to the quality judgment. It is squirting. Also, as shown in FIG.
The second inner drum 85 has a similar non-defective product discharge nozzle 9 downstream of the defective product discharge nozzle 91 in the transport direction.
2 are formed so as to communicate with the respective suction grooves 851, and the non-defective product discharge nozzle 92 always injects compressed air regardless of the quality judgment.

Below the back surface inspection drum 82, FIG.
As shown in the figure, the defective product collection can 95 for receiving and collecting the defective tablet discharged from the back surface inspection drum 82 by the compressed air ejected from the defective product discharge nozzle 91 and the defective tablet into the defective product collection can 95. A defective product discharge chute 94 to be guided and a non-defective product recovery conveyor 93 for transporting non-defective tablets discharged from the back surface inspection drum 82 by the compressed air ejected from the non-defective product discharge nozzle 92 to the collection container c are provided. Have been.

Although not shown, the defective product discharge chute 94 is divided into a plurality of inner upper portions corresponding to the respective defective product discharge nozzles 91, and each of the partitions includes a pair of light emitting and receiving devices. A detection sensor is provided, and discharge of the defective tablet is confirmed by the discharge detection sensor. In addition, the good product collection conveyor 93 is provided with a rotating shaft 931 that is rotated by an air cylinder (not shown).
In the case where the ejection detection sensor does not confirm ejection of a defective tablet even though a defective tablet is detected, the air cylinder operates and the non-defective product recovery conveyor 93 swings, and The tablets are put into another collection container instead of the collection container c.

Although not shown, the appearance inspection apparatus performs image processing on a side image, a front image, and a rear image of the tablet t 'taken in by each of the imaging devices 63, 64, 83, and 84. A good or bad judgment unit is provided which detects appearance defects such as adhesion of foreign matter, dirt or chips or cracks, judges the quality of the tablet, and controls the ejection of compressed air from the defective product discharge nozzle 91 according to the judgment result. Have been.

Next, the operation of the appearance inspection apparatus of this embodiment will be described. The visual inspection device of this example loads the deformed tablet t ′ shown in FIG. 10 from the hopper 11 (see FIG. 1) into the device, and continuously performs the visual inspection of the side surface, front surface, and back surface of the tablet t ′. In this method, defective tablets having poor appearance such as adhesion of foreign matter, dirt or cracks, chipping or scratches on any of the side surface, front surface, and back surface and non-defective tablets without poor appearance are collected separately.

First, the tablets t ′ randomly supplied from the hopper 11 are roughly sorted by the rough sorter 16 and the first side inspection drum 61 of the side inspection unit 6 through the supply pipe 15 by the alignment supply device 12. Holding pocket 6
11 is continuously supplied. At this time, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the tablet t ′ has its major axis direction L (FIG. 10).
) In the vertical direction along the longitudinal direction L into the deep bottom portion 612 of the holding pocket 611 of the first side surface inspection drum 61, and the tablet t ′ is
As shown in FIG. 3 (A), the upper part is a supply pipe 1.
5 is inserted into the distal end portion. Note that the delivery of the tablet t ′ is performed as shown in FIG.
The suction hole 614 provided in the deep bottom portion 612 of the holding pocket 611 located at the tablet delivery location is the first suction shoe 6.
When the deep bottom portion 612 is brought into the suction state in accordance with the condition 16, the operation is performed extremely stably and reliably.

Holding pocket 6 of first side inspection drum 61
The tablet t ′ that has been put in the upright state with the major axis direction L up and down into the deep bottom portion 612 of the eleventh portion 11 is conveyed by the rotation of the first side inspection drum 61, and at this time, as shown in FIG. The upper portion of the tablet t ′ abuts on the front wall 15a of the supply pipe 15 and is tilted down to the rear shallow portion 613.
As shown in (C), the suction hole 615 provided in the shallow bottom portion 613 of the holding pocket 611 is sucked in accordance with the second suction shoe 617, and the suction force causes the tablet t 'to have its short diameter. It is held in the holding pocket 611 in an upright state with the direction S (see FIG. 10) up and down. In this case, as shown in FIG. 3 (C), the tablet t ′ is held upright with at least half thereof exposed from the outer peripheral surface of the first side inspection drum 61, and is stabilized by the suction force. Transported by the rotation of the first side surface inspection drum 61 while being held in the horizontal direction.

Each tablet t ′ held by the holding pocket 611 of the first side inspection drum 61 and transported by the rotation of the drum 61 has a side exposed from the outer peripheral surface of the drum 61 during the transport. An image of a half of the side surface of the tablet t ′ is captured by the first imaging device 63, conveyed to the lowermost portion of the drum 61, and transferred to the holding pocket 621 of the second side inspection drum 62.

When the holding pocket 611 of the first side inspection drum 61 holding the tablet t 'moves to the lowermost part of the drum, as shown in FIG.
Are aligned with the compressed air shoe 618, and compressed air is ejected into the holding pocket 611, whereby the tablet t '
Is discharged from the holding pocket 611, and the holding pocket 621 of the second side inspection drum 62, which rotates in synchronization with the first side inspection drum 61, is removed from the holding pocket 6.
11 and the suction hole 622 of the holding pocket 621 coincides with the suction shoe 623, so that the inside of the pocket 621 is in the suction state, and the tablet t ′ is held in the holding pocket 611 of the first side inspection drum 61. From the second
It moves to the holding pocket 621 of the side surface inspection drum 62 in an upright state with the short diameter direction S up and down. At this time, as shown in FIG. 2, the tablets t ′ held in the holding pockets 621 are in a state in which the tablets t ′ are inverted from those held in the holding pockets 611 of the first side inspection drum 61, In the upright posture with the minor axis direction S up and down, half of it is the second
The side inspection drum 62 is held by being exposed from the outer peripheral surface thereof, and is conveyed by the rotation of the drum 62.

Each tablet t ′ held in the holding pocket 621 of the second side inspection drum 62 and transported by rotation of the drum 62 has the side exposed from the outer peripheral surface of the drum 62 during the transport. The image taken by the second imaging device 64 is taken in the half of the side surface on the opposite side of the tablet t ′, and is conveyed to the lowermost portion of the drum 62 to be formed on the attitude conversion drum 71 of the attitude conversion section 7. The posture is transferred to the posture conversion pocket 711, and the posture is changed from the upright state to the prone state in the posture conversion pocket 711.

The delivery of the tablet t 'from the second side inspection drum 62 to the attitude conversion drum 71 and the attitude conversion by the attitude conversion drum 71 are performed as follows. When the tablet t ′ is held and conveyed in the holding pocket 621 of the second side inspection drum 62 and conveyed to the lowermost portion of the second side inspection drum 62, as shown in FIG. Holding pocket 621 of two side inspection drum 62, connecting plate 6
7 and the attitude conversion pockets 711 of the attitude conversion drum 71 are aligned in a line in the up-down direction. In this state, as shown in FIG. 4A, the compressed air is ejected into the holding pocket 621, and the attitude conversion pocket 711 of the attitude conversion drum 71 is moved to the suction passage 71 as shown in FIG.
2 and the suction hole 713, and as shown in FIG. 4B, the tablet t ′ is discharged from the holding pocket 621 of the second side inspection drum 62 by the above-described compressed air, suction, and its own weight. The tablet t ′ moves through the communication groove 671 to one end of the posture changing pocket 711 of the posture changing drum 71 in an upright state, and as shown in FIG. By suction from the suction hole 713 provided at the other end, the pocket 711 is slid on the bottom surface from one end to the other end, and the posture of the tablet t ′ is changed from the upright state to the prone state. I do. Then, by rotation of the posture changing drum 71, the tablet t 'is conveyed downward while being stored in the posture changing pocket 711, and at this time, the suction state in the posture changing pocket 711 is released after receiving the tablet t'. , FIG.
As shown in (D), the tablet t ′ is placed in the posture changing pocket 7.
11 is conveyed by sliding in a completely flat state on the inner peripheral surface of a cover plate 72 (see FIG. 1) disposed along the outer peripheral surface of the attitude conversion drum 71 and accommodated in the posture conversion drum 71.

The tablet t 'whose posture has been changed from an upright state to a prone state in the posture conversion pocket 711 and conveyed downward is, as shown in FIG.
At the lowermost part 1, it is delivered to the front surface inspection drum 81 of the front and back surface inspection unit 8. At this time, the tablet t ′ accommodated in the posture changing pocket 711 and conveyed to the lowermost part of the posture changing drum 71 is, as described above, a cover plate disposed along the outer peripheral surface of the posture changing drum 71. The inner surface 72 (see FIG. 1) is slid and conveyed on the inner peripheral surface in a completely flat state, and is reliably supplied to the surface inspection drum 81 in the completely flat state.

From the attitude conversion drum 71 to the surface inspection drum 8
As shown in FIG. 5, the tablet t ′ that moves to the position No. 1 has the suction hole 811 in a state where the position conversion pockets 711 of the position conversion drum 71 and the suction holes 811 of the surface inspection drum 81 are aligned. Posture change pocket 7 by the suction force of
11 to the outer peripheral surface of the surface inspection drum 81.
8, the tablet t ′ is adsorbed on the two rubber bands 87 wound around the rubber band 87 and
As shown in FIG. 5, each tablet t ′ is placed on the surface inspection drum 8.
In a state of being sucked over the two rubber bands 87, 87, it is transported downward by the rotation of the surface inspection drum 81. During the transportation, the surface image of the tablet t 'is obtained by the surface imaging device 83. It is taken in and transferred to the back surface inspection drum 82 at the lowermost part of the surface inspection drum 81.

From the front surface inspection drum 81 to the back surface inspection drum 8
The delivery of the tablet t 'to 2 is performed as follows. FIG.
As shown in FIG. 7, the suction holes 81 of the surface inspection drum 81 sandwich the tablet t ′ conveyed to the lowermost portion of the surface inspection drum 81.
1 and the suction holes 861 provided in the outer cylinder drum 86 of the back surface inspection drum 82 are aligned with each other. At this time, the rubber band 87 wound around the surface inspection drum 81 and the outer cylinder drum 86 of the back surface inspection drum 82 are wound. The tablet t ′ is sandwiched between the rubber band 87 and the suction hole 811 of the front surface inspection drum 81, and compressed air blows out from the suction hole 811 of the front surface inspection drum 81, and the suction hole provided on the outer cylinder drum 86 of the back surface inspection drum 82. Reference numeral 861 denotes a suction state, in which the tablet t ′ moves from the front surface inspection drum 81 to the outer cylinder drum 86 of the back surface inspection drum 82, and is adsorbed on the rubber band 87 of the outer cylinder drum 86 in a reversed state. Become.

Then, as in the case of the surface inspection drum 81, each tablet t ′ is adsorbed over two rubber bands 87 wound around the outer cylindrical drum 86 of the back surface inspection drum 82, and The tablet t 'is conveyed downward by the rotation of the cylinder drum 86, and the back surface imaging device 84 captures the back surface image of the tablet t' during the conveyance.

Next, the tablet t ′ for which the front image and the back image have been captured is conveyed downward by the rotation of the outer drum 86 of the back surface inspection drum 82, and is inspected by a pass / fail judgment unit (not shown). The two side images, the front surface image, and the back surface image are image-processed, and the tablet t 'is inspected for appearance defects. Then, as shown in FIG. 5, when the appearance defect is detected, the compressed air is ejected only from the nozzle corresponding to the tablet x determined to have the appearance defect among the defective product discharge nozzles 91, Only the defective tablet x is blown downward from the outer peripheral surface of the outer drum 86, and the other good tablet t 'is further conveyed by the rotation of the outer drum 86 and ejected from the good discharge nozzle 92 (see FIG. 1). All the tablets t 'are blown downward from the outer drum 86 by the compressed air and fall on the non-defective product collection conveyor 93, are conveyed out of the apparatus by the conveyor 93, and collected in the collection container c.

On the other hand, the defective tablet x discharged from the back surface inspection drum 82 is collected by a defective product collection can 95 (see FIG. 1) through a defective product discharge chute 94 (see FIG. 1). At this time, the passage of the defective tablet x is determined by the defective product discharge chute 9.
4 to detect the discharge of the defective tablet x from the back surface inspection drum 82 by detecting the discharge by a discharge detection sensor (not shown) arranged in the inside 4. If the ejection of the tablet is not confirmed by this ejection detection sensor, an air cylinder (not shown)
Is operated, the non-defective product collection conveyor 93 swings, and all the tablets discharged on the non-defective product collection conveyor 93 are supplied not to the collection container c but to another collection container (not shown), and the defective tablets are removed. It is designed to prevent mixing in tablets. Note that a tablet group in which defective tablets collected in the other collection containers may be mixed may be returned to the hopper 11 for inspection.

In the surface inspection drum 81 and the back surface inspection drum 82, a tablet t 'having a surface with a score line b facing upward and a tablet t' with a surface without the score line b facing upward are mixed. By performing image processing ignoring b, it is possible to prevent the dividing line b from being erroneously recognized as defective.

As described above, the side surface inspection apparatus of this embodiment is
The tablet t ′ is held in an upright state where at least half of the tablet t ′ is exposed from the outer peripheral surface of the drum 61 in the holding pocket 611 of the first side inspection drum 61, and the first tablet t ′ is rotated without rotating the tablet t ′.
The side face is photographed by the imaging device 63, and then the tablet t ′
Is transferred to the holding pocket 621 of the second side inspection drum 62, and the tablet is turned upside down from the state held by the first side inspection drum 61, and more than half of the tablet is exposed from the outer peripheral surface of the drum 62. Hold the tablet t 'in this state without rotating the tablet t'
By photographing with the imaging device 64, the side surface of the tablet t 'is photographed by approximately half by the two side inspection drums 61 and 62 and the two imaging devices 63 and 64, and an image of the entire side surface is obtained, and the side inspection is performed. It is.

Therefore, according to the side inspection unit 6 of the visual inspection apparatus of the present embodiment, that is, according to the side inspection apparatus of the present invention, holding of the first and second side inspection drums 61 and 62 without rotating the tablet t '. Since the entire side surface is photographed while being stably held in the pockets 611 and 621, even if the flat tablet to be inspected is a special rectangle such as the tablet t ′, it is extremely stable. High-precision and reliable side inspections can be performed by capturing images of the entire side surface with high-precision images. Similarly, other odd-shaped tablets such as elliptical, oblong, triangular, square, and polygonal tablets However, half of the shape of the holding pockets 611 and 621 of the first side inspection drum 61 and the second side inspection drum 62 is exposed from the outer peripheral surface of the drum in an upright posture in accordance with the shapes of these irregularly shaped tablets. With Jo, it is capable of performing similarly advanced and reliable side inspection.

Incidentally, the appearance inspection apparatus of the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and the tablet supply section 1, the posture conversion section 7, the front / back side inspection section 8 and the separation section 9 have other configurations. For example, as the front and back surface inspection unit 8, a conventionally known mechanism using an inspection drum having a tablet storage pocket formed on the outer peripheral surface may be used. A known posture changing mechanism using a guide plate having a pressing groove may be adopted, and a separating drum may be used as the separating unit 9. Further, the posture conversion unit 7 and the front / back surface inspection unit 8 may be omitted to provide a tablet side inspection device. Furthermore, the side surface inspection apparatus and the appearance inspection apparatus of the present invention are suitably used as an inspection apparatus for a so-called irregularly shaped tablet as in the above-described embodiment, but can also inspect a normal circular tablet. Still further, for example, so that a blind spot does not occur at the time of imaging by each imaging device,
Other configurations may be variously changed without departing from the gist of the present invention, such as providing two or more cameras having different photographing angles in each imaging device and photographing from two or more directions.

[0054]

As described above, according to the side face inspection apparatus and the appearance inspection apparatus using the side face inspection apparatus of the present invention, the tablets are held in the holding pockets of the first and second side face inspection drums without rotating. Since the entire side surface is photographed while being held in a stable state, the flat tablet to be inspected is an elliptical, oblong, triangular, quadrangular, polygonal, or other so-called irregular shape that is difficult to rotate. Even for tablets, an image of the entire side surface can be captured extremely stably, and a highly accurate and highly reliable side inspection can be performed with a high-precision image.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing an appearance inspection apparatus using a side inspection apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a side inspection device of the present invention constituting the appearance inspection device.

FIG. 3 is a partially enlarged cross-sectional view for sequentially explaining the operation of the side surface inspection apparatus when a deformed tablet is supplied to a first side surface inspection drum.

FIG. 4 is an operation of transferring the tablet from the second side inspection drum to the attitude conversion drum of the appearance inspection apparatus, changing the attitude of the tablet from the upright attitude to the prone attitude, and transporting the tablet by the attitude conversion drum; 3 is a partially enlarged cross-sectional view for sequentially explaining.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing a posture conversion device constituting a posture conversion unit of the appearance inspection device, and a front and back surface inspection unit of the appearance inspection device.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a front surface inspection drum and an outer cylindrical drum of a back surface inspection drum which constitute a front and back surface inspection unit of the appearance inspection device.

FIG. 7 is a partially enlarged view showing an outer peripheral surface portion of an outer cylindrical drum of a front surface inspection drum and a back surface inspection drum which constitute a front and back surface inspection unit of the appearance inspection device, where (A) is a perspective view and (B) is a perspective view; It is a top view.

FIG. 8 is a partially enlarged cross-sectional view showing a state in which a tablet is held on the outer peripheral surface of the outer surface drum of the surface inspection drum and the back surface inspection drum that constitute the front and back surface inspection unit of the appearance inspection device;
(A) is a transverse sectional view, (B) is a longitudinal sectional view.

FIG. 9 is a partially enlarged cross-sectional view showing a portion for transferring tablets from the front surface inspection drum to the outer cylinder drum of the back surface inspection drum in the front and back surface inspection unit of the appearance inspection device.

FIG. 10 shows an example of a modified tablet to be tested;
(A) is a plan view, (B) is a side view, and (C) is a front view.

FIG. 11 is a schematic view showing a conventional visual inspection device.

FIG. 12 is a side view in which a part of a side inspection drum constituting a side inspection unit of the appearance inspection device is shown in cross section.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Tablet Supply Unit 12 Alignment Supply Device 15 Supply Pipe 16 Rough Sorting Machine 6 Side Inspection Unit 61 First Side Inspection Drum 611 Holding Pocket 612 Deep Bottom 613 Shallow Bottom 62 Second Side Inspection Drum 621 Holding Pocket 63 First Imaging Device 64 Second imaging device 7 posture conversion unit 71 posture conversion drum 711 posture conversion pocket 72 cover plate 8 front and back surface inspection unit 81 surface inspection drum 811 suction hole 82 back surface inspection drum 83 surface imaging device 84 back surface imaging device 85 inner cylinder drum 86 outer cylinder Drum 861 Suction hole 87 Rubber band 871 Band mounting groove 872 Deflection recess 9 Separation part 91 Defective product discharge nozzle 92 Defective product discharge nozzle 93 Defective product recovery conveyor 94 Defective product discharge chute 95 Defective product recovery can t ' Flat tablets (irregular tablets) x defective tablets c Na L major axis direction S minor axis direction

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A flat tablet is transported in an upright state with the radial direction up and down, and a side image of the tablet is taken by an imaging device during the transport to obtain a side image of the tablet, and the appearance is obtained from the obtained image. In the side surface inspection device that determines the presence or absence of a defect, a plurality of holding pockets that hold the flat tablet in an upright state with half or more exposed are formed on the outer peripheral surface and are aligned, and a first side surface inspection drum that rotates at a predetermined speed, A large number of holding pockets for holding the flat tablet in an upright state with half or more exposed are formed on the outer peripheral surface, and are arranged in a state where the outer peripheral surface of the first side inspection drum is brought close to its own outer peripheral surface. A second side inspection drum rotating in synchronization with the first side inspection drum, a first imaging device for photographing a flat tablet held in the holding pocket of the first side inspection drum, and a second side inspection Do A second imaging device for photographing the flat tablet held in the holding pocket of the ram,
The flat tablet to be inspected is held in the holding pocket of the first side inspection drum in an upright state in which half or more of the flat tablet is exposed from the outer peripheral surface of the drum, and is transported by rotation of the first side inspection drum. By taking an image of the exposed side surface of the flat tablet with the first imaging device, an image of a half of the side surface of the flat tablet is obtained, and the flat tablet is transferred to the holding pocket of the second side inspection drum, and The flat tablet is held in an inverted upright state in which half or more of the flat tablet is exposed from the outer peripheral surface of the drum, and is transported by rotation of the second side inspection drum. A flat tablet side inspection apparatus characterized in that an image of the other half of the side surface of the flat tablet is obtained by taking an image of the flat tablet. 2. A side inspection apparatus for inspecting a side surface of a flat tablet having a major axis and a minor axis, wherein a holding pocket of the first side inspection drum has a bottom depth at a front side in a rotational direction of the drum and a shallow bottom at a rear side. And the deep bottom portion and the shallow bottom portion are individually suctioned, and
A supply means for continuously supplying the flat tablet to the deep bottom of the holding pocket in an upright state with the major axis direction up and down is provided, and only the deep bottom of the holding pocket is sucked at the time of supply, from the supply unit. After the supplied tablet is stored and held in the bottom deep portion of the holding pocket in an upright state with the major axis direction up and down, the suction of the deep bottom is released, and the shallow bottom is sucked, and the suction force is applied. 2. The side inspection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the tablet falls down to a shallow bottom portion, and the tablet is in an upright state with the short axis direction up and down, and transporting and photographing are performed in this state. 3. The supply means has a supply pipe having a tip portion disposed close to the outer peripheral surface of the first side inspection drum, and the tablet is passed through the supply pipe in an upright state in which the longitudinal direction is up and down. At the same time, the front portion of the peripheral wall of the supply pipe tip in the drum rotation direction is shorter than the rear side, and the longitudinal direction supplied from the supply pipe tip to the bottom of the holding pocket of the first side inspection drum moves up and down. The tablet in the upright state is in a state where the upper part is inserted into the tip of the supply pipe,
Due to the rotation of the first side inspection drum, the upper part of the tablet is pressed rearward by the front peripheral wall of the supply pipe tip, and the tablet falls down to the shallow part of the holding pocket, and the tablet moves in the short diameter direction. 3. The side inspection apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the side inspection apparatus is configured to be in an upright state. 4. A side surface inspection unit comprising the side surface inspection device according to claim 1, and a second side inspection unit of the side surface inspection unit.
An attitude conversion unit that receives a flat tablet in an upright state from the side inspection drum and converts this into a flat state in which the thickness direction is up and down, and receives a flat tablet in a flat state from the attitude conversion unit, and converts it into a flat state A surface inspection drum that conveys the tablet by being held on the outer peripheral surface and rotating at a predetermined speed, and a surface inspection drum that is disposed with its own outer peripheral surface close to the outer peripheral surface of the surface inspection drum; A flat-surface inspection drum that receives a flat tablet from the above, holds the tablet on the outer peripheral surface in a flat state in which the tablet is inverted, and transports the tablet by rotating at a predetermined speed, and a tablet held on the surface of the surface inspection drum A front surface imaging device that captures and captures the front surface image of the tablet, a back surface imaging device that captures the tablet held on the outer peripheral surface of the back surface inspection drum and captures the back surface image of the tablet, and a captured side surface A quality determination unit that performs image processing on each of the image, the front image, and the back surface image to determine the presence or absence of a defective appearance, and a non-defective tablet having no defective appearance and a defective tablet having a defective appearance according to the determination result by the quality determination unit. A flat tablet appearance inspection apparatus, comprising: a separating means for separating and collecting non-defective tablets.