JPS5816972Y2 - Solid drug supply section in solid drug transport equipment - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] This invention is applied, for example, to a visual inspection device for solid preparations, and is used to examine pharmaceutical tablets, capsules, or other pellet-like preparations (hereinafter referred to as "solid preparations"). Regarding the solid drug supply section of a conveying device that conveys (collectively referred to as) using a drum-shaped conveyance section, the objective is to obtain a supply section that can maintain the correct feeding posture of the solid preparation and supply it to the subsequent drum-like conveyance section. be.

First, the external appearance of the solid preparation conveying apparatus shown in FIG. 1 will be explained.

In the figure, 1 is a supply hopper for solid preparations (hereinafter described using "tablets" as an example), 2 is a supply drum constituting the supply unit that is the object of the present invention, and 3 and 4 are first and second supply drums, respectively. Drum-shaped conveyance parts (hereinafter referred to as "first drum" and "second drum"), 5 and 6 are the first drum 3 and the second drum 4
Above, a first button and a second tablet observation device using, for example, an industrial camera, which are arranged close to the outer peripheral surface in the flat top region, and 7 is a circuit for determining the quality of the tablet based on the above two observation results. 8 is a collection tank for defective tablets that are determined to be defective based on the determination result and is sorted and discharged from the middle of the transport route; 9 is a collection tank for non-defective tablets that are transported from the terminal position of the transport route; It's a pill.

It is composed of a supply drum, a drum-shaped conveying section, etc. in FIG. 1.

The detailed structure of the conveying device is shown in FIG.

As shown in the figure, the supply drum 2 has holes 11 for accommodating tablets, which serve as through holes arranged at predetermined intervals on the outer peripheral surface of the supply drum 2.
The inner space of the drum serves as a tablet storage chamber 12, into which a chute from the hopper 1 shown in FIG. 1 is opened.

- The first and second drums 3 and 4 have pocket-shaped tablet accommodation holes 13 arranged on their outer circumferential surfaces at equal pitches to the accommodation holes 11 of the supply drum. hole 13
is connected to the first and second drums 3 and 4 through the vacuum suction hole 14.
The tablet 10 is connected to a vacuum chamber 15 defined inside the tablet 10, and is configured to hold the tablet 10 by vacuum suction.

As shown in the figure, the drums 2, 3.4 are arranged side by side on the left and right so that their outer circumferential surfaces face each other, and rotate periodically in the direction of arrow A with their respective housing holes 11 to 13 aligned in phase. Driven.

Further, an outer guide 16 is installed in the outer peripheral area of the lower surface of the supply drum 2 so as to cover the outer peripheral surface of the drum 2 .

This guide 16 is for guiding the tablets 10 filled in the through-hole 11 to prevent them from falling downward, and the tip thereof faces toward the position where the drums 2 and 3 meet. It is extended.

With the above configuration VCi-, the tablets 10 introduced from the hopper into the storage chamber 12 of the supply drum 2 are dropped into the through-accommodating hole 11 and filled, and as the drum rotates, the tablets 10 are introduced into the storage chamber 12 of the supply drum 2.
While being guided by sliding on top of 6, it is moved upward to the upper right.

When the tablet 10 reaches a position facing the first drum 3, it is adsorbed and transferred from the through-accommodation hole 11 to the accommodation hole 13 of the first drum 3, and thereafter is conveyed on the upper surface area of the first drum 3. The surface of half of one side is observed by the television camera 5.

Further, the image is transferred between the first drum 3 and the second drum 4 in the same way, and the surface of the other half is observed by the television camera 6.

The tablets 10 are judged to be good or bad based on the above two observation results, and the tablets judged to be defective are stored in the defective product tank 8 which can be clicked as shown in FIG.
The remaining non-defective products are selectively discharged to the non-defective product tank 9 through a discharge mechanism such as a nozzle or the like.

On the other hand, in the above-mentioned tablet appearance inspection apparatus, the tablet conveyance posture by the tablet conveyance device has a large effect on the inspection function.

In other words, the tablet stored in the storage hole is tilted from a predetermined stable posture (here, stable posture refers to a stable balanced posture when the tablet is placed freely on a horizontal plate surface), or it is turned upside down. If this happens, correct surface observation cannot be performed and accurate surface information cannot be obtained.

As a result, the inspection and selection function deteriorates.

Further, when the inverted position occurs, the tablets are transferred between the storage holes 130 at the transfer point between the drum-shaped conveyance section and other structural parts close to the outer peripheral surface of the drum-shaped conveyance section or between the first drum 3 and the second drum 4. This can cause them to get caught or crushed, causing damage.

By the way, the above-mentioned drum type conveyance device does not have a vacuum suction means, especially the supply drum 2, and the through hole 11
The tablets 10 filled with Vc are transported upward while sliding on the guide 16, and are transferred to the first drum 3 at a transfer point opposite to the first drum. In the case of the supply drum, the posture of the supply drum is often disturbed during this transfer process.

After various considerations regarding this posture disturbance phenomenon, it was found that the following transfer operation was the cause.

This will be explained with reference to FIG.

As shown in the figure, in the conventional structure, the through holes 11 of the supply drum 2 are oriented in accordance with the radial direction of the drum.

In contrast to the conventional structure shown in FIG. 3, the supply drum 20 through hole 11
When the tablet 10 filled inside is moved upward while being guided by the outer guide 16 and reaches the tip of the guide 16, the front end of the tablet is first separated from the guide 16 as indicated by reference numeral 10', and the vacuum suction force is applied. Then, it leans forward and falls into the accommodation hole 13 of the first drum 3.

Moreover, at this point, the rear end of the tablet 1σ is still guide 1.
6 and is further pushed out from behind by the supply drum 2.

For this purpose, the tablet 10' performs a tilting movement in the direction of arrow B, which further promotes the leaning forward posture.

As soon as the front end of the tablet lands in the accommodation hole 13 of the first drum 3 in this tilted position, it is suctioned and held. As a result, the tablets are conveyed in a tilted position astride the rear edge of the accommodation hole 13 in the first drum 3, as indicated by the symbol 1σ.

Moreover, in this case, the degree of the tilted posture is determined by the shape of the tablet 10 itself, its surface condition, the supply drum 2 and the guide 16.
It varies depending on the surface condition of the drum, the flow of suction air on the first drum 3 side, etc.

Therefore, during actual conveyance operation, posture disturbances occur randomly, making it difficult to take measures to prevent them.

The present invention skillfully prevents the disturbance of the posture that occurs during the transfer process from the supply drum to the drum-shaped conveyance section at the subsequent stage, as described above, and enables the solid drug to be transferred in a stable posture. The structure and operation of the present invention will be explained in detail below based on the illustrated embodiments.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, a through hole 11' for storing tablets is formed in the outer peripheral surface of the supply drum 2 based on the present invention.
is formed such that the hole thereof is inclined in the backward tilting direction with respect to the drum rotation direction A.

The angle of inclination θ between the hole axis H of the through hole 11' and the drum radial direction R due to this inclination is selected to be, for example, about 3e.

Next, the tablet transfer operation with the above configuration will be explained with reference to FIG.

The tablets filled and housed in the through-hole 11' of the supply drum 2 are pushed from the rear by the inner circumferential wall surface 17 of the hole 11' and are slidably transferred on the guide 16.

Therefore, the through hole 11' is inclined as described above, and therefore the angle α between the guide surface of the guide 16 arranged along the drum peripheral surface and the inner peripheral wall surface 17 of the through hole 11' is The acute angle is smaller than 9e, and a wedge-shaped space is defined inside the through hole 11' by both surfaces.

Therefore, the tablet 10 is formed between the surface of the guide 16 and the inner peripheral wall surface 17.
It will be transported while maintaining the posture shown in the figure.

In the figure, A is the maximum radial direction of the tablet 10, and points P and Q are the direction in which the tablet 10 is transferred to the guide 16 and the hole 1, respectively.
This is a contact point that contacts the inner circumferential wall surface 17 of No. 1.

That is, the tablet 10 has contact points P and Q in the rear region from its center O.
It is transferred in the A direction as the drum rotates while being sandwiched between the guide 16 having a wedge surface and the inner circumferential surface 17 of the through hole.

Therefore, even when the tablet 10 is transferred to the tip of the guide 16, the conveyance posture of the tablet 10 does not change until the contact point P leaves the tip of the guide 16, and as described in FIG. will not fall forward toward the accommodation hole 13 of the first drum 3.

Furthermore, even immediately after the contact point P leaves the guide 16, the tablet 10 is brought into contact with the inclined inner peripheral wall surface 17 at the contact point Q and clicked, and the tilting movement in the direction of the arrow B in FIG. 2 is suppressed.

Moreover, the contact point P is located in the rear region of the tablet 10, and the contact point P
When the tablet exceeds the tip of the guide 16, the tablet is immediately removed from the guide 16 while maintaining its current posture.

As a result, disturbances in the transfer posture such as inclination and inversion of the tablets 10 described in FIG. Become.

When setting the inclination angle α shown in FIG. 6, that is, the inclination of the through hole 11', if the inclination angle α is too small, the tablet 10
However, various experimental results show that if the inclination of the through hole 11' is set at approximately 3θ with respect to the radial direction, as described above, It has been confirmed that transfer between the transport cart and the drum can be performed smoothly and stably.

As described above, according to the present invention, the through-hole for housing solid preparations formed on the circumferential surface of the supply drum is tilted backwards with respect to the rotational direction of the drum. It is possible to effectively prevent the posture of the solid preparation from being disturbed during the process of transferring it to the shape conveying section, and the excellent effect of smoothly transferring the solid preparation in a stable posture can be achieved.

Moreover, the structure is simple and can be implemented at low cost.

Therefore, by applying the solid dosage supply unit based on the present invention to the above-mentioned solid dosage appearance inspection equipment, it is possible to improve the inspection function and prevent transport troubles. The same practical advantages as mentioned above can be obtained by applying it to the feeding section of the conveying device for printing machines that print on the surface of
A solid drug supply unit of great practical value can be provided.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is an equipment layout diagram of a visual inspection device for solid preparations cited as an example of the implementation target of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a sectional view showing the overall structure of the conveyance device, and Fig. 3 is based on the conventional structure shown in Fig. 2. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the main parts of the embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 5 is a plan view of the outer peripheral surface of the supply drum as shown in FIG. 4; and FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the embodiment of the present invention. It is. In each figure, common symbols indicate the same or equivalent parts, and the correspondence between the major parts and the symbols is as follows. 2... Supply drum, 3, 4... Drum-shaped conveyance section, 1
0...Solid preparation, 1,... 1 , , , , , . 1
1'... Through hole for accommodating solid preparation facing the supply drum, 12... Storage chamber, 13... Drum-shaped conveyance section VCi
16... Outer guide, A... Drum rotation direction, H... Hole axis of the through hole, R... Radial direction of the supply drum, θ... Inclination angle of the through hole.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] A supply drum whose inner space serves as a solid drug storage chamber and whose outer circumferential surface is provided with through holes for accommodating solid preparations arranged at predetermined intervals, and a lower outer periphery of the feed drum to prevent the solid preparations filled in the through holes from falling out. The supply drum is disposed opposite to and in parallel with the front stage of a drum-shaped conveyance section having solid preparation storage holes arranged on its outer periphery, and the supply drum is placed in parallel with the front stage of the drum-shaped conveyance section, which is provided with an array of solid drug storage holes on the outer periphery. As the drum rotates, the packed solid drug is guided by the outer guide and moved upwards, and then transferred to the subsequent drum-shaped conveyance section. A solid preparation supply unit for a solid preparation conveying device VC, characterized in that the direction of the hole is inclined in the backward tilting direction with respect to the rotational direction of the drum.