JPS5948645A - Method and apparatus for inspection of capsule - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To determine capsules to be deffective when recesses are detected both on the cap and body sides thereof by measuring the quantity of light reflected by 360 deg. in the opposite direction to lighting after done vertical to the axis thereof on the plane including the axis of the capsule being carried. CONSTITUTION:A sensor output signal (a) is applied to a differentiation circuit 22 via an amplifier 21 and compared with a reference voltage in positive and negative voltages by means of comparators 23 and 23' to be binary coded. A timer 24 is triggered by the output of the comparator 23' and the set time T1 of the timer is made slightly longer than the time required for scanning a lock hole of a cap. When a normal, accepted capsule is detected, an FF25 is set by the output of an AND gate A2 but FF25' is not and hence, the output signal (i) fails to be set on the on level. When a twin cap as rejected product is detected, FFs 25 and 25' are both set and the output signal (i) is set on the on level. Thus, any twin cap can be detected exactly.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for inspecting pharmaceutical capsules, and more particularly to a method and apparatus for inspecting capsules for detecting defective capsules called twin caps before being filled with drugs. It is something.

Figure 1(a) shows that in an empty capsule before drug filling,
This is an external view of the capsule to show that the cap 1 and the body 2 are temporarily connected, and the first rgJ (
b) is an external view showing that the capsule after filling is in a fully bonded state.

Note that 3 indicates a locking hole for locking each other with a snap when the cap and body are fully connected.

In FIG. 11ffl(b), the tip of the body 2 goes deep into the cap 1, and the body and the cap are fully connected, whereas in FIG. 1(a), the tip of the body 2 goes deep into the cap 1. You can see that it does not go all the way inside and is in a temporary bonded state.

The body and the cap, which are in this temporary bonded state, have a weak bonding force and are therefore easy to separate from each other. Therefore, when such an empty capsule is placed in an inspection device and subjected to vibration, the cap may come off from the body.1. It is later combined with the body of another normal capsule, resulting in a defective capsule (
(referred to as a twin cap).

Until now, no effective device has been developed that can automatically detect defective capsules called twin caps without visual inspection.

The present invention was conceived in view of the above-mentioned conventional technical circumstances, and therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a capsule inspection method and apparatus that can accurately detect defective capsules such as twin caps. There is a particular thing.

As an inspection method for distinguishing a twin-cap capsule from a normal capsule, a method can be considered in which the total length of the capsule is measured and the total length is compared between the normal capsule and the twin-cap capsule.

However, the length of the twin cap capsule is only longer than the normal capsule length by the thickness of the cap.
This value is smaller than the variation in normal capsule length. Therefore, a twin cap inspection method using the entire length is not possible. Therefore, in the present invention, we focused on the fact that twin caps always have two lock holes 3, as shown in FIG. 2, and detected this to enable identification of twin caps.

Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In general, an appearance inspection device using an optical sensor for a cylindrical object such as a capsule has already been proposed by the present inventors (for example, in Japanese Patent Application No. 57-040183). ), and as for the optical sensor, the previously proposed one is also used in the present invention, so its outline will first be explained below. Figure 13 is a sectional view showing the outline of such an optical sensor. In the same figure, 5 is a capsule that advances while rotating;
6 is a sensor, 7 is a light source, 8 is a condenser lens, 9 is a half mirror 110 is a lens, 11 is an aperture, and 12 is a photodiode.

In Figure 3, the light emitted from the light source 7 is condensed by a condenser lens 8, and then the optical path is changed to 45 by a half mirror 9.
° and irradiates the capsule 5 through the lens 10. The light reflected on the capsule surface passes through a lens 10, a half mirror 9, and an aperture 11 to a photodiode 1.
2.

The amount of incident light is photoelectrically converted by the photodiode 12, and its output is guided to the judgment circuit described later. 〇5- Figure 4 shows that in a recess such as a 10-hole, the amount of reflected light decreases, and therefore the sensor output also decreases. FIG.

In the figure, in the flat area A, the light 15 irradiated from the sensor is regularly reflected 360 degrees in the optical axis direction of the sensor, so the amount of light reaching the photodiode is large. However, in the inclined region B, since the reflected light 16 is reflected in a direction different from the optical axis of the sensor, the amount of light reaching the photodiode is small.

Next, the waveform of the sensor output obtained by optically scanning a rotating capsule with the above sensor will be explained with reference to Figure 5. In Figure 5, the capsule is rotating while rotating. Since the direction of optical scanning by the sensor is yl.

The direction is as shown by Yl. Regarding lock hole 3,
The following explanation assumes that two scans, Yl and Yl, are performed.

Area (3) corresponds to the tip of the cap 1, and since the tip is rounded, the amount of reflected light reaching the sensor is reduced.

In regions ① to θ, since the caps 1 and 6 overlap with the body 2, the amount of reflected light is greater than in the case of the cap alone or the body alone, as in the regions ② and ▪. With area O, each lock hole 3
Due to the dent, the amount of reflected light is reduced. Area ■ is similar to area.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the main part (judgment circuit) of an embodiment of the present invention. In the same figure, 121 is an amplifier, 22 is a differential circuit, 23.23 is a comparator, 24 is a timer, and 25.25 is a differential circuit. are 7 lipflops, respectively.

FIG. 7 is a waveform diagram of each part signal in FIG. 6. In particular, (7-1) shows that (72
) is a waveform diagram of each part signal obtained when scanning a defective capsule (twin cap).

Next, Figure 6, #! The operation will be explained with reference to FIG.

The input signal (a), which is the sensor output, is amplified to an appropriate voltage level by the amplifier 21, and then differentiated by the differentiating circuit 22, resulting in a differential output (b). Differentiated signal (b)
is a dedicated comparator for both positive voltage and negative voltage 23.23
At , the voltage is compared with a positive reference voltage (■+) and a negative reference voltage (V-) to be binarized. The timer 24 is triggered by the output of the comparator 23, and the set time T1 of the timer is set slightly longer than the time Ts required to scan the lock hole 3 of the cap shown in FIG.

Therefore, the output (C) of the timer 24 is as shown in FIG. 7, and the output (d) of the computer game (A1) is obtained as shown in FIG. On the other hand, the F-MASK signal as signal (e) and the 'R-MA8 as signal (0) are set to mask the vicinity of the lock hole of the cap. When the capsule is inspected, the flip-flop 25 is set by the output of the AND gate A2 and the flip-flop 25 is not set, so the output signal (i) is not set to the on level.

On the other hand, when a twin cap, which is a defective capsule, is inspected, as can be seen from the waveform shown in (7-2) in Fig. 7, the 7 rib flop is also set to 25°25, and the output signal (i) is Set to on level.

According to the present invention, the following effects can be expected.

(a) Twin caps, which are defective capsules, can be reliably identified because the lock hole that is always formed in the cap is detected. For example, if the body is short or the cap is long, there is also a twin cap in which the gap ΔC between the caps of the twin cap in Figure #I2 becomes zero. In this case, it is difficult to reliably detect twin caps using the method of determining twin caps by detecting the inter-cap gap ΔC, but according to the present invention, it is possible to reliably detect twin caps even in the above-mentioned case.

(b) By using a coaxial reflective sensor as explained with reference to Figure 3, the sensor output shows the waveform shown in Figure 7(a) regardless of whether the material to be inspected is transparent or opaque. Furthermore, since a negative pulse is reliably generated in the lock hole, the present invention can be applied to all capsules.

9-

[Brief explanation of drawings]

#! Figure 1 (a) is an external view of an empty capsule before being filled with medicine, Figure 1 (b) is an external view of the capsule after being filled, and #! Figure 2 is an external view of a defective capsule called Twin Cap, #l! 3
The figure is a cross-sectional view showing an overview of the optical sensor, Figure 4 is an explanatory diagram showing the reduction in the amount of reflected light in a recess such as a lock hole, and Figure 5 is a diagram showing how a rotating capsule is optically scanned by a sensor. Waveform diagram showing the waveform of the resulting sensor output, #
! FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a main part (judgment circuit) of an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 7 is a waveform diagram of signals of each part in FIG. 6. Code explanation 1...For cap 2...Body, 3.
...Lock hole, 5...Capsule, 6...
...Sensor, 7...Light source, 8...
Condenser lens, 9...Half mirror-110
...lens, 11 ... aperture 11
2...°・Photodiode, 21......Amplifier, 22...Differential circuit, 23, 23...
... Comparator, 24 ... Timer %25, 25 ...
...7 lips 70 tubes = 10-

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1) Illuminating the surface of a capsule that is being transported in the axial direction while rotating around an axis on a plane that includes the capsule axis and from a direction perpendicular to the capsule axis, and illuminating the surface of the capsule from the capsule surface. A dent in the capsule is detected by measuring the amount of light reflected in a direction 36° opposite to the direction, and if it is detected that the dent is present on both the cap side and the body side of the capsule, the capsule is A capsule inspection method characterized by determining that the capsule is a twin-cap capsule. 2) An appearance inspection device that projects light onto a capsule being conveyed in the axial direction while rotating around #l, and inspects whether or not the capsule is a twin-cap capsule based on the amount of reflected light. a differentiating circuit for an electric signal obtained by photoelectrically converting the electrical signal; a gate circuit for passing the other pulse by a gate signal created based on one of a pair of positive and negative pulses as a differential output from the differentiating circuit; and the capsule. first and second mask signal generation means corresponding to two specific locations on the surface, a first AND gate that performs a logical product of the output of the gate circuit and the output of the first mask signal generation means, and the gate and an AND gate #I2 that takes a logical product of the output of the circuit and the output of the second mask signal generating means, and when outputs are generated from the first and second AND gates, the capsule A capsule inspection device characterized in that the capsule is determined to be a twin-cap capsule.