JPS59183351A - Ampule examining apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enhance the recovery ratio of a good product, by a method wherein conveyed ampules are examined by a plurality of examination means to judge a good product and a bad product according to the quality judging results of a specific number or more of examination means and the re-examination of the bad product is repeated. CONSTITUTION:Ampules (a) to be examined are successively supplied to an examination drum 8 rotating to the direction shown by the arrow from a delivery port 1 through a belt conveyor 4, a bridge breaker belt 5, a delivery star wheel 6 and a supply star wheel 7. Each ampule is rotated around the shaft core of the drum 8 at a high speed at a position I and the rotation thereof is stopped at a position II while the examination of quality is performed at a position III by a TV camera 11 while the content liquid during rotation is illuminated. Similarily, examination is performed at positions IV-VI and, when results in four-time examinations are good, said ampule is judged as a good product and, when bad, it is judged as a bad product while the other ampule is judged as a re-examination product. In this case, the bad product is sent to a bad product star wheel 17 by a bad product distributing valve 16 operated through a control circuit 13, the good product to a star wheel 18 and the re-examination product to a re-examination star wheel 15. Because the re-examination product is repeatedly re-examined, the recovery ratio of the good product is enhanced.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an ampoule inspection device, more specifically an ampoule,
The present invention relates to an inspection device for checking the presence of foreign substances contained in the liquid by capturing the image (Fl) of a liquid-filled object such as a vial using inspection means such as a plurality of television cameras.

Since foreign objects such as glass shards may accidentally get mixed into the liquid content of ampoules and vials, conventional inspection equipment that swirls the liquid content and uses a television camera to capture the foreign objects contained therein has been specially developed. It has been proposed in Publication No. 52-19798, Special Publication No. 47914/1983, etc. However, the cameras installed in these inspection devices are only capable of detecting foreign objects with a certain level of sensitivity and distinguishing between good and defective Amplifier 71zf products. However, when the sensitivity of the camera was increased to meet the demand for detection of air bubbles, it became possible to detect even small air bubbles that were generated as the liquid content swirled, making it impossible to distinguish between foreign objects and air bubbles. Since detection had to be carried out, the recovery rate of good ampoules after inspection was extremely low, resulting in poor productivity.

In order to eliminate the drawbacks of the conventional example, the present invention includes a plurality of cameras as an ampoule inspection means, increases the foreign object detection sensitivity of each camera, and at the same time integrates the detection results of all cameras and tests the ampoules according to a certain standard. The ampules of re-inspected products are inspected using several phase-changing cameras to improve the recovery rate of non-defective ampoules. It is. That is, the ampoule inspection device according to the present invention includes a conveying means for conveying the ampoule from an input position to an unloading position via at least one inspection position, and a means for inspecting the amplifier/V at each of the inspection positions to determine whether it is a good product. A plurality of inspection means for determining a defective product and a first specific number or more of inspection means determine the product to be non-defective,
and determination means that determines the product to be defective if the number of inspection means equal to or less than the second specific number determines the product to be good, and further determines the product to be re-inspected if the number of inspection means less than the first specific number and more than the second specific number determines the product to be good; The present invention is characterized in that it includes return means for returning ampules determined to be re-inspected products from the output position to the input position or inspection position from the output position of the determination means, so that re-inspection of the ampoules is repeatedly performed.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to embodiments shown in the drawings.

In the ampoule inspection apparatus shown in FIG. 1, ampoules 3 to be inspected are sequentially fed from a loading port 1 to a belt conveyor 4 surrounded by a loading guide 2 in front of a loading table 3. The ampoules 3 are delivered one by one by a delivery belt conveyor 4 to a transport pocket 5a of a charging star wheel 6 rotating clockwise with the help of bridge breaker belts 5 on both sides. The ampoules 3 of the preparation star foil 6 are sequentially supplied to the holder 9 of the inspection drum 8 through the conveyance pocket 7a of the supply star foil 7 that rotates counterclockwise.The test drum 8 that rotates clockwise is sequentially supplied. While holding the bottom and shoulders of ampoule a with a pair of upper and lower holders 9a and 9b, the ampoule is rotated at high speed around its axis at the first position (■), and then the ampoule is rotated at the second position (■). (However, the liquid in the ampoule continues to rotate due to inertia.) Then, at the 37th Jg position, the ampoule λ is illuminated by the projector 10 and the television camera 11 is used to check whether the ampoule is good or defective. is inspected with a certain level of sensitivity (detecting foreign substances in the ampoule contents and distinguishing between good and defective products at a certain level). On the dose line, the fourth
- In each of the 5th and 6th inspection positions if IV, ■, and ■i, after rotating the apple and stopping it, the ampoule was illuminated with a floodlight and each television camera was used to check if the ampoule was good or not.
Inspect defective products. The ampoule a of the inspection drum 8 is sent to the transport pocket 12a of the extraction star wheel 12 which rotates counterclockwise, and a re-inspection shaker is generated and assisted via the control circuit 13 based on the inspection result number of the camera]1. minute valve 1
The ampoule to be re-inspected by 4 is sent to the transport pocket of the re-inspection star wheel 15)], 5a, while the defective product sorting valve 16 is operated via the control circuit 13 based on the inspection result of the camera 11. Defective ampoules are transported by defective star foil] 7, transportation pocket 17
Only good ampoules are sent out from the take-out star foil j2 to the conveyance pocket 18a of the star foil 18 for the next process. The %-inspected pan ampoule is transported back from the re-inspection star wheel 15 to the transport pocket 6a of the preparation square wheel 6 via the transport port (hereinafter referred to as "margin") 19a of the intermediate coal feeding star wheel 19 that constitutes the return circuit. Then, the inspection using the inspection drum 8 as described above is repeated once again. Defective ampoules are thrown into a defective product box 21 through a guide 20 along with the defective Star Wheel/L/17.

With the ampoule inspection device as described above, the inspection drum 8 and all star points -zl/6, 7, 12.15', 17.18
．． 19 are synchronously driven by a drive device not shown in the drawings so that the ampoules are sequentially conveyed as described above. It's the trench, the third hole outside the inspection drum 8. The cameras 11 provided at the fourth and sixth positions III, IV', V and VI are all connected to the control circuit 13, and
Electromagnetic actuation means 2 each actuated by the output of the i control circuit 13
2.23'! The re-inspection distribution valve 14 and the defective product distribution valve 16 are operated through the r. Each distribution valve 14. J6
When closed, for example, the amplifier/1/
While the ampoule remains in the transport pocket 12a of the Star Wheel/L/12, during the opening operation, the ampoule is ejected from the transport pocket 12a of the Star Wheel/L/12 to the outside by the action of, for example, pressurized air. The control circuit 13 is similar to a logic circuit such as a counter, and all the cameras 11 are The rotatable lower holder 9a provided in FIG. 8 and the upper As shown in FIG. 3, it is equipped with a rotatable upper holder 9b provided on a disc 26 and capable of vertically sliding, and a cam plate 29 for controlling the vertical position of the upper holder 9b provided on a fixed plate 28. Ampoule a fed from Sukuhoi~/v7 to the inspection drum 8 (while being held by Z upper and lower holders 9a and 9b, when taking out the star wheel v12 hair ampoule from the inspection drum 8, the amplifier) V is placed in the upper and lower holders. 9a, 9b, and Jl.As shown in Figure 4, the amplifier/L/a
When releasing the upper and lower holders 92.9b, the upper holder 91) is moved up and down by the stepped portion 30 provided on the cam plate 29 to ensure that the ampoule is separated from the upper holder 9b. As shown in FIG.
When it is held in the upper and lower holders of 1 and reaches the first position, it is rotated at high speed together with the holder 9 around its axis by the high-speed rotation belt I+ 31. At the next second position (3), as shown in FIG. 6, the ampoule '-1 is stopped from rotating together with the liquid holder 9 by the friction brake 32, and only the liquid in the ampoule is rotating due to inertia. It is sent to the 4th, 5th and 6th inspection positions m, rv, v, ■.

As shown in FIG. 7, at each inspection position, the ampoule 3 is rotated by the driving pulley 33 so that its front face always faces the camera 11, and is illuminated by the lamp 10 so that the camera 11 captures a still image thereof. If there is a foreign object in the liquid contained in the ampoule, the camera captures an image of the moving foreign object and determines whether the ampoule is good or defective.

Each camera 11 detects foreign matter in the liquid contained in the ampoule with a certain high sensitivity and determines whether each ampoule is acceptable or not at a certain discrimination level. In addition, since foreign objects in the liquid in the ampoule rotate with the liquid and change their position, in order to increase the accuracy of detecting foreign objects,
Each camera 11 has a different inspection value 6m on the outside of the inspection drum 8
, ■, v, V'I is placed σ. When the control circuit 13 to which the ampoule pass/fail judgment result from the full-view camera 11 is input receives the ampoule pass judgment signal from a specified number or more cameras, for example, four or more cameras, the control circuit 13 judges the ampoule as a good product. a defective product signal 'hanging force means for determining the ampoule as a defective product when receiving a determination signal indicating that the ampoule is rejected from a second specific number or more cameras, for example, four or more cameras; If the number of cameras below the first specified number receives a signal indicating that the ampoule has passed, and the number of cameras below the second specified number receives a signal indicating that the ampoule has failed, for example, 3, 2, or 1
If you receive a pass signal from one camera, the other camera will fail.
It is equipped with a re-inspection signal output means which determines that the amplifier is a re-inspection product whose Vf test is unclear upon receiving the signal, and the output means outputs a defective product through the electromagnetic actuating means 23. The sorting valve 16 is operated to take out the corresponding ampoule from the take-out star wheel 12 to the defective product sorting star wheel 17, while the re-inspection signal is outputted via the electromagnetic actuating means 22 by the output of the re-inspection signal output means. The inspection distribution valve 14 is operated to take out the corresponding ampoule from the take-out star wheel 12 to the re-inspection distribution schoohy/v15. Therefore, good ampoules are taken out from the take-out star wheel v12 to the next step star wheel 18, and defective ampoules are taken out from the defective product sorting star wheel/1/17 via the guide 20 to the defective product box 21, while the remaining Ampules of re-inspection products are sent from the re-inspection sorting star wheel zv15 via the intermediate return star wheel 19, sent back to the star wheel 6, passed through the supply star wheel/L/7 again, and then transferred to the inspection drum 8.
will be sent to.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 8, the ampoules to be fully inspected on the preparation stand 3 are classified into good, defective, and unknown re-inspected items during the first inspection on the inspection drum 8, and are then re-inspected. Only the inspected items have been inspected twice by the inspection drum 8, and can be separated into good items, defective items, and unknown re-inspected items, and only these re-inspected items have been subjected to the next third inspection. Then, the unknown re-inspected product will undergo a fourth inspection, and the inspection will be repeated many times in sequence. The re-inspected product is inspection drum 8.
When undergoing re-inspection, the same ampoules are continuously fed into the inspection drum 8 from the preparation stand 3, and therefore a large number of ampoules are inspected in succession. It will be done. In this way, every time the ampoules of re-inspected products are re-inspected on the inspection drum 8, good ampoules and defective ampoules are taken out, and finally there are no ampoules of re-inspected products.

Now, as mentioned above, four cameras 11 are used, and the detection rate (g) of one ampoule is shown based on the pass/fail discrimination signal of each camera, and the vertical axis is the overall detection rate of the four cameras. Indicates the rate (to). In FIG. 9, each curve has 1. K
2. K3. K4. S2. S3. S4 is the following case.

K1...If even one of the four cameras detects that an ampoule is rejected, the amplifier/V in question is determined to be a defective product, while all other ampoules are determined to be non-defective. This shows the overall detection rate when it is determined that

K2...If two or more of the four cameras detect that the amplifier/I/ is defective, the amplifier/I/ in question is determined to be defective, while other amplifiers Shows the overall detection rate when all are judged as non-defective.

K3...If three or more cameras out of the four cameras detect that the ampule (blue lamp)V has failed, the corresponding amplifier lVf is determined to be defective, while other ampoules are judged to be defective. Shows the overall detection rate when all products are determined to be non-defective.

K4...If all four cameras detect that the amplifier/L/wo has failed, the ampoule is determined to be defective, while the other amplifiers) Vf are all determined to be good. Shows the overall detection rate.

S2: Out of the four cameras, if all four cameras are detected to have passed the amplifier I/F, the ampoule is determined to be good, while two or more cameras are detected to have passed the amplifier I/F. ) If it is detected that the ampoule fails Ltf, the ampoule is determined to be defective, and if only one camera detects the ampoule as failing, the ampoule is determined to be re-inspected. Shows the overall detection rate for the case.

S3...If all four cameras among the four cameras are detected to have passed the amplifier/L/f, the amplifier) is determined to be good, but if three or more If the camera detects that the ampoule has failed, the ampoule is judged to be a defective product, and if one or two cameras have detected that the ampoule has failed the amplifier) Vf, the ampoule is re-inspected. This shows the overall detection rate when it is determined that

S4: Out of the four cameras, if all four cameras are detected to have passed the amplifier) v1,
These are inspected and re-inspected 54 times using four cameras as in the present invention to see how many ampoules are determined to be defective. Ampoules with foreign substances detected with a probability of 1
00 ampoules are prepared, and they are inspected and re-inspected 54 times using four cameras as in the present invention, to see how many ampoules are determined to be defective. The result was as follows.

1st Inspection 2nd Inspection 3rd Inspection 4th Inspection 5th Inspection By repeating the inspection 5 times as described above, the percentage of non-defective products was 9950%, and the percentage of defective products was 0.01%.

Further, when 100 ampoules having 80% foreign matter in the liquid content were mixed into a large number of good ampoules and the test in S4 was repeated, the results were as follows.

1st inspection 2nd inspection @ 3rd inspection 4th inspection 5th inspection 6th inspection 7th inspection 8th inspection 9th inspection 036%, and 9879% of defective products.

Therefore, in both of the above cases, the recovery rate of good products is improved, and at the same time, defective products are less likely to be overlooked, making it possible to obtain high-quality ampoules that have passed highly sensitive inspection.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figure 1 is a plan view of an uninvented ampoule inspection device;
Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view of a part of Figure 1, Figure 3 is a perspective view of a part of Figure 2, Figure 4 is a side view of a part of Figure 3, and Figure 5 is a side view of part of Figure 1. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. 5, FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 13-B in FIG. , FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram of the detection rate. 8... Inspection drum, 11... Camera, J2... Takeout star foil, 13... Control circuit, 14... Re-inspection distribution valve, 15... Re-inspection star foil. Patent applicant: Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited Patent attorney: Aoyama Aoyama and two others Figure 3 Figure 4 Figure 5 R Figure 6 Figure 9 149nnny? 57! (1) &lU'P % Procedural Amendment (Voluntary) May 17, 1988 Mr. Commissioner of the Japan Patent Office 1. Indication of the case 1985 Patent Application No. 58502 2. Name of the invention Ampoule inspection device 3. Amendment Relationship with the patent applicant case 4, agent 〒541

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) Amplifier) A conveyance means that transports the ampoule from the Vf input position to the take-out position via at least one inspection position, and a plurality of inspection means that inspects each ampoule at the above inspection position to determine whether it is a good product or a defective product. The product is determined to be non-defective when a first specified number or more of the inspection means determine the product to be non-defective, and the product is determined to be defective when the second specific number or less inspection means determine the product to be non-defective.
Judgment means for determining the product to be re-inspected when the inspection means determines that the product is non-defective when the number is less than a specific number and exceeds a second specific number; Alternatively, an ampoule inspection device characterized in that the ampoule is repeatedly re-inspected by being provided with return means for returning the ampoule to the inspection position.