JPS59226975A - Inspecting device for external appearance - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prolong the time for decision and to assure the inspection for similar products by providing the 1st and 2nd memories which store the binary coded signals by an amount equivalent to one capsule and repeating an action where the signal is read out of one of two memories while the signal is stored to the other memory alternately in each pass of the capsule. CONSTITUTION:The signal (a) supplied from a sensor 2 of an external appearance inspecting device is processed via a differentiators 211 and 222, comparators 221-225, monostable multivibrators 231-235, an AND gate 28, etc. The four types of prescribed signals (b), (f), (g) and (m) are applied to a changeover switch 24. The output of the switch 24 is stored to the 1st and 2nd memories 251 and 252 via output data buses 271 and 272, respectively. A CPU4', a controller 5 and a changeover switch 26 are provided to the memories 251 and 252, respectively. Then the binary coded signal is read out of the memory 252 while the binary coded signal is stored in the memory 251. This action is repeated alternately at every time a capsule passes to elongate sufficiently the decision time and ensure the decision of the similar products.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention [Technical Field to which the Invention Pertains] The present invention relates to an article appearance inspection device that inspects the article based on sensor output obtained by scanning a cylindrical article such as a pharmaceutical capsule with an optical sensor. In particular, the present invention relates to an appearance inspection device with an improved storage method for storing sensor outputs.

[Prior art and its problems]

FIG. 1 is an external view of such a drug capsule. That is, the capsule 1 is composed of a cap 11 and a body 12, and the cap 11 is further provided with a lock hole (notch) 13 for locking the cap and the body 12 together. The capsule before being filled with a drug is called an empty capsule.The bonding force between the cap 11 and the body 12 is small at this point, and as shown in FIG.

After the empty capsule is filled with the drug, the cap 11 and the body 12 are further pressed to form a fully bonded state with a strong bonding force, as shown in FIG. 2(b). Capsules formed in this manner may suffer from various defects during manufacture. For example, this includes a thin spot where the wall thickness of the capsule becomes gradually thinner, a hole where the thin spot becomes larger, a pinhole, etc. In addition, some of the manufactured capsules include loose products in which the cap and body are separated, twin caps in which the separated cap is recombined with the normal crystal body, and lock capsules in which the empty capsule is fully combined during capsule transportation. There may be cases where defective products called . Therefore, it is necessary to inspect empty capsules to eliminate defective products with the above-mentioned defects.

By the way, various methods can be considered for inspecting such a capsule, and for example, the following method can be used.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the capsule inspection apparatus, and FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing the relationship between the capsule transport mode and the sensor output waveform. In FIG. 2, 2 is an optical sensor that irradiates light onto a capsule and receives the reflected light, and 3 is a binarization circuit that binarizes the sensor output at a predetermined level.
4 is a determination circuit consisting of a data processing unit (CPU), memory, etc., and 5 is a controller. Note that since the capsule is conveyed in the direction of the arrow by the conveying member 6 as shown in FIG. 3(a) while being rotated about its longitudinal axis as the rotation axis, the capsule is conveyed in the direction of the arrow by the sensor 2 shown in FIG. The surface of each capsule will be scanned. Such scanning is also called helical scanning, and the output waveform obtained by this helical scanning is an analog waveform as shown in FIG. The capsule can be inspected by writing the data into the file and performing predetermined processing using the data processing device.

By the way, in such a system, 1) the transport direction of the capsule is not necessarily fixed, and as shown in Fig. 3 <a>
As shown in FIG. 1, there are two types: one that is transported with the cap side first, and the other that is transported with the body side first.

2) It is important to increase the inspection throughput, and for this purpose, if the transport speed is constant, it is necessary to narrow the space between capsules (ad) as shown in FIG. 3(a).

3) Depending on the material of the capsule, both the cap and the body may be transparent or opaque, or some combination thereof.In that case, the signal level for binary I will be different, so countermeasures are required.

4) Although the conveyance speed is constant, there are some fluctuations.

There are various problems such as 0. For this reason, if the determination circuit is made entirely of hardware, especially the above-mentioned 1).

In order to deal with items 2) and 3), the circuit power 5 becomes extremely complex and the number of parts increases, so software processing is usually performed by a data processing device. In this case, the binarized data for one capsule is stored in a predetermined memory at appropriate intervals, and the determination is made by software processing as described above. )
As is clear from the above, most of the total testing time (TI+T2) is spent on the data acquisition time T1, leaving only a small amount of time T2L for the judgment time. Moreover, as pointed out in the above section 2), this time tends to be reduced, which has the disadvantage that accurate determination cannot be made.

[Purpose of the invention]

The present invention has been made in consideration of this point, and an object of the present invention is to provide a capsule inspection device that can secure enough time to determine whether a capsule is good or not.

[Key points of the invention]

The key point is that the sensor output, which changes at each predetermined position according to the outer shape and surface shape of the capsule, is binarized at a predetermined level and the obtained binarized signal is stored for at least one force pulse. By providing a second memory and alternately repeating the operation of enabling the binary signal to be read from the other memory while the binary signal is being written to one memory, each time the capsule passes, Sufficiently long judgment time (maximum, total test time required for one capsule; Figure 3)
In b), it corresponds to the sum of T1 and T2. ).

[Embodiments of the invention]

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram showing an embodiment of this invention, and FIG.
6 is an explanatory diagram illustrating write and read operations of the memory. FIG. 7 is a waveform diagram illustrating the timing of sensor output to memory. 7 is a memory configuration diagram showing a partial storage mode of various No. 15 in FIG. 7. FIG.

In FIG. 4, 2 and 5 are the same optical sensors and controllers as in FIG. 2, 4 is a data processing unit (CPU), 2
1xzl! lz is a differentiator, 221 to 225 are comparators, 231 to 234 are monostable multivibrators (hereinafter also simply referred to as monoste), 24.26 is a bus changeover switch specially provided according to the present invention, 25.
．． Similarly, 252 is a memory and a 271° port.

Differentiator 211y212, comparator 22°~ in Fig. 4
225, Monoste 231-234 and AND Gate 2
8 and the like, and its operation will now be explained with reference to FIG. 5 as well. In addition, as shown in FIG.
It is assumed that each defective capsule 12 having a hole 14 is inspected at the first time.

The capsules 11 and 12 are helically scanned by the sensor 2, and a signal as shown in FIG. 5(a) is obtained. Here, al is the four parts produced by notch 13, and a2
are the four parts created by the hole 14. From this signal a,
Four types of signals b*Lg and m are obtained as follows. First, the signal A is an analog signal a.
1 by comparing it with a predetermined level aL (see FIG. 5(a)), and changes depending on the right side of the capsule and the conveying member 6 as shown in FIG. 5(b). signal fo
After the analog signal a is differentiated by a differentiator 211 having a predetermined differential coefficient determined by the size of the field of view of the sensor, the transport speed of the capsule V=, and the shape of the capsule, g is:
The comparators 222 and 223 smell the level C shown in FIG. Depending on the start and end, they are obtained as shown in Fig. 5) and (e), respectively.This signal f2g is obtained by shaping the outputs of the comparators 222 and 223 into signals of a predetermined width by monosteers 231 and 232, respectively. However, the reason why the signal is held for a predetermined period of time will be explained later.On the other hand, the signal m is a predetermined derivative determined by -C depending on the size of the field of view of the sensor, the circumferential velocity of the capsule vN, the shape of the defective part, etc. Differentiator 21 that looks at constants
2, the controller 224p22 outputs the signal as shown in FIG.
5, the signal i+J is obtained by comparing each with a predetermined level hH*hL, and the signal i is converted into a signal obtained through a monostage 234 that shapes this signal j into No. 18 of a predetermined width.
The signal l obtained by performing a logical product operation on the AND gate 28 is further shaped into a signal of a predetermined width by the monoste 233. Therefore, the signal l or m is
This is obtained only when the analog signal a has a concavity like al, and is not obtained in other cases. In addition,
Here, the concave part containing the notch of the capsule is
#234 and the AND gate 28 are used to detect the output i of the comparators 224 and 225.

j into a signal with a predetermined width, store it in memory, and send it to the CPU.
The detection can be carried out within 4.

The binary signal from the capsule obtained in this way is, for example, from the Nth capsule 11 shown in FIG. Then those signals are stored in memory 2
51. At this time, the memory 252 has N-1
Data regarding the N-th capsule has been written, and therefore the CPU d(f determines the N-1th capsule based on this data and sends the result to the controller 5.
send to Next, when scanning the N+1-th capsule 12 as shown in FIG. On the other hand, since the memory 251 is connected to the CPU 4,
The CPU 4 determines the Nth capsule.

Here, the timing of writing the binarized signal into the memory will be explained with reference to FIG. 7. In addition, the enlarged waveform is shown in the same figure (b) as the output of the AND gate 28 in FIG.
The same figure (c) also shows the output of the monoste 233 in figure 4,
(in the same figure) indicate the timing t, and in particular, the interval of the timing t is the standard for the determination accuracy in the capsule length direction, but here, for example, it is equal to the time required for the capsule to rotate 1/4 revolution. To be elected. By the way, the time width of the binary signal l as described above is determined by the size of the notch or hole in the capsule, but its value is determined by the size of the notch or hole in the capsule.
This is about 1/10 or less of the time required for rotation. Therefore, at the read timing shown in FIG. 7), the signal l
cannot be read, so the signal m is generated by holding the signal j for a time TH, which is slightly longer than 1/4 period, using the monoste 233. Note that according to this signal m, the seventh signal (7) can be read more than once as shown in the figure. This point is also the same in the case of the signal f2g. ), the binary signal is stored in the memory 2519252.
are alternately written to (WRITE) or read from (几B
AD), for example, in the case of FIG. 7, it is stored as shown in FIG. Note that FIG. 6(a) shows the operation of the memory 251, and FIG. 6(a) shows the operation of the memory 252, for example.

Figures 9 and 10 show the bv signals obtained by scanning the normal crystal capsule 11° and the perforated capsule 12, respectively, as shown in Figure 5.
FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the storage mode of Lg and m.

In Figure 19.10, the symbols shown at each address are attached as follows. That is, CPINI,2
RISEI is placed at the start and end addresses where the binarized signal f becomes '1'', and 2 is an address where the binarized signal f becomes '1'' at addresses near the start and end of the capsule.
CENTER-B.

C is the address near the center of the capsule, FALLl, 2
is the address where the binary signal g becomes 61", N0TCHI is the address near the beginning and end of the capsule, and 2 is the address where the binary signal m becomes 1", which occurs in the area where the gap and the body overlap. Also, HO to the address
In LE, the binary signal m is 1'' in the area other than the N0TCH mentioned above.
These are assigned in correspondence with the respective addresses. Note that Figure wfJ9 is for a normal crystal that is transported with the gap first, and Figure 10 is for a defective product that has a hole in the body and is transported with the body first. In the figure, the address indicating the notch (NOTCHI,
It can be seen that 2) appears earlier than in the case of FIG. 10, and the address (HOLE) indicating the hole does not appear.

Next, the information (b, f,
A description will be given of how the determination is made based on the signals (signals such as g, m, etc.).

Here, the meanings of the signals L>, f, g, and m are as follows.

l) When scanning the capsule or the current transport member for the signal II 1 t+
becomes.

2) If the signal f is scanned at the beginning of the capsule, at the end of the capsule receiving hole on the conveying member, or at the cut end of the cap when the capsule is conveyed with the body first, it becomes 1''.

3) For signal g, if you scan the end of the capsule, the beginning of the capsule storage hole, or the cap cut when the capsule is transported with the cap first, it will be '1''04) For the signal m, the recess on the capsule surface, thinness When scanning a part or a part with low reflectance, it becomes '1'.

As described above, each signal has its own meaning, but it is not necessarily determined uniquely, and therefore it is necessary to further analyze these. That is, the signal f1g is generated near the beginning, end, or center of the capsule, but these can be easily distinguished because their addresses are far apart from each other. However, the signal m is from NOTCH and from HOLF.
Here, we will distinguish between them as follows.

FIG. 11 is a 70-chart illustrating a signal determination method.

First, as is clear from items 2) and 3) above, determine the transport direction of the capsule and the position of the cap cut by checking the address where the signal f or g becomes 11'' (see ■ and ■). 0 Next, check the address where the signal m is 11" (see O, o), and if this address is on the gap side and is not more than a predetermined distance from the cap cut, the signal m = 1 is due to the notch. On the other hand, if it is more than a predetermined distance away and on the side of the bracket, it can be considered that it is due to a hole. Therefore, here, in order to determine whether the difference between the address where f = l or g = 1 representing the center position and the address where m = 1 is smaller than a predetermined setting value cT1 (see θ), YE
If it is S, it is caused by Notsuchi and is considered normal (see ■)
, if No, it is determined that the product is defective because it has holes (refer to). In addition, if there is no address for which m = 1 in θ, ■, an error occurs (see ■, ■) 0 or more,
Although the description has mainly been given to the inspection of the capsule surface, it is also possible to inspect the aforementioned twin cap, chisopdo cap, rock capsule, etc. in the same way. Also, the fourth
In the illustrated embodiment, a monoste 234 is provided to detect four parts of the analog signal, but by connecting the monoste 234 to the 224 side instead of the comparator 225, it is possible to detect the convex portion of the analog signal. I can do it. Furthermore, if the unevenness of the analog signal is not to be distinguished, it is possible to omit the monoste. Further, as described above, the comparators 224 and 225 (DIJ3) may be directly stored in the vi, and the detection processing thereof may be performed by the CPU 4.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, according to the present invention, since two memories are provided and binary signals are written and read out alternately, the data acquisition time and the calculation time are not separated and all data can be processed. It can be used as calculation time. for example,
When one memory is used, the time required for one trip is approximately 20 times the capsule conveyance pitch time (Tl+yr2) explained in FIG.
According to the present invention, the determination time is about the same as y, that is, without reducing the processing capacity,
It can be increased by 5 times or more. Moreover, in this invention, 1
Since all the binarized information for the force pulse is stored, it is not only easy to judge by software, but also the influence of the conveyance speed can be reduced, and even if the capsule is conveyed in different directions, it can be easily determined. This has the advantage of being able to deal with problems.

The present invention can be widely applied not only to pharmaceutical capsules as described above, but also as an inspection device for similar articles in general.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is an external view showing the capsule, Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing the outline of the capsule inspection device, and Fig. 3 is the transport mode of the capsule and the sensor output. I! Explanatory diagram showing the relationship with shape, 4th
5 is a diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 5 is a waveform diagram of various parts for explaining the operation of FIG. 4, and FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram for explaining write and read operations of two memories. 7th
The figure is a waveform diagram explaining the relationship between reading timing of sensor output into memory, Figure 8 is a memory configuration diagram showing partial storage mode of various signals, and Figures 9 and 10 are shown in Figure 5. Memory configuration diagram showing storage modes of various signals, No. 11
The figure is a flowchart showing part of a signal determination method. Code explanation 1 m 11 p 12...Medical capsule, 1
1...Cap, 12...Body, 1
3...notch, 14...hole, 2...
...Optical sensor, 3...Binarization circuit, 4...
...Judgment circuit, 4 ...Data processing device (
CPU), 5... Controller, 6. Capsule storage hole of transport member, 61. Capsule storage hole of transport member, 211
t212...Functional differentiator, 221-225...Interval comparator, 231-234...Monostable multivibrator (Monoste), 24, 26...Bus changeover switch, 27□. 27□g 271 + 272... Data bus Fig. 2 Fig. 3 (il) Fig. 4r2 Fig. 5 (Small > 7 (e) Fig. 6 Fig. 7 Fig. 8

Claims (1)

[Claims] An optical sensor sequentially scans a substantially cylindrical article that is rotated about a longitudinal axis and conveyed in the axial direction, and the output of the sensor is binarized at a predetermined level to detect the outer shape and surface of the article. a signal extraction means for extracting a predetermined signal representing the shape of the article; and two storage means for storing the binarized signal for a predetermined time for each article;
A switching means is provided for switching so that when the binarized signal is written in one storage means, the signal is read from the other storage means, and the switching means switches between the two storage means. An appearance inspection device characterized in that an article is inspected by alternately performing writing and reading by switching alternately for each article, and performing a predetermined analysis based on the read binary signal.