JPS63163259A - Automatic defect inspecting device for tablet or the like - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To inspect tablets, capsules, etc., in various shapes from to and reverse surfaces and flanks at a high speed by one small-sized device by judging whether or not the tablets, etc., have defects totally by a controller. CONSTITUTION:A tablet T is conveyed by a grooved belt conveyor 25 as shown by an arrow (a), passed onto a transparent conveyor 30, and conveyed as shown by an arrow (a). At this time, a sensor 37 for chipping detection detects chipping, deformation, etc., and sensors 38-41 for surface defect detection arranged at an upper and a lower position and on a right and a left side detect the foreign matter sticking, dirt, flaw, cracking, etc., of the surface. Their detection results are sent to and processed by a microcomputer to judge whether or not each of tablets T has a defect. If some defect of a specific tablet T0 is found, the tablet T0 on the transparent conveyor 30 is blown off on reaching a discharge part 34 by blowing air out of an air injection opening 36, so that the tablet is collected in a defective recovery box 35.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention is directed to the prevention of defects (adhesion of foreign matter, dirt, scratches, cracks, chips, deformation, etc.) in uncoated tablets, sugar-coated tablets, film-coated tablets (capsules), etc. ), and relates to an inspection device that automatically detects and sorts them.

[Prior Art] In the pharmaceutical industry, the "Government for Manufacturing and Quality Control of Pharmaceuticals J (GMP)" has been enacted since 1978.

Good Manuf'acturing Pract
ICE) is strongly promoting improvements in drug quality inspection.

However, even in highly automated drug manufacturing and packaging processes, there are still areas where human intervention is required. One example of this is visual inspection for defects in tablets, etc., where workers visually inspect all tablets for defects that occur when filling the drug or when pressing the key, and also visually inspect all tablets during packaging. ing. Such visual inspection not only requires skill, but also poses a major obstacle to improving work efficiency.

Various attempts have been made to automate such visual inspection by workers, and one example is the TLE-3000 "high-speed tablet inspection device" manufactured by Ikegami Tsushinki Co., Ltd.

This device places tablets placed in a hopper in recesses provided at predetermined intervals on the circumferential surface of a transparent drum, and uses an illumination optical device to detect foreign matter, dirt, deformation, etc. on the front and back surfaces of the tablets, etc. This system detects chips, etc., inputs this detection signal to a microcomputer, makes a decision, and automatically sorts defective tablets, etc.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] Conventional inspection devices as described above check for defects in tablets, etc. on the drum, so they can only inspect the front and back sides and cannot inspect the sides. The drum must be replaced each time depending on the size of the tablets, etc.; Since a large number of tablets, etc. are arranged on the drum, the detection accuracy at both ends is poor due to the field of view of the camera; and a large drum is used. This caused many problems, such as the overall size of the device and the need for many replacement parts.

[Object of the invention] The present invention has been made to solve the above problems,
The structure is small and simple, and a single device can process tablets of various shapes.
Capsules, etc. can be inspected from the front, back and sides.
Furthermore, the object of the present invention is to obtain an automatic inspection device for tablets, etc., which is capable of high-speed operation.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention has a turntable that feeds out tablets etc. one by one, and two endless transparent wires arranged side by side. a transparent conveyor that conveys tablets, etc. supplied from A tablet consisting of a chipping detection sensor and a surface defect detection sensor arranged in close proximity, and a control unit that inputs the output signals of these sensors to determine whether there is a defective tablet, etc., and sends a signal to the defective product discharging unit. The present invention provides automatic defect inspection equipment such as the following.

[Operation] The surface condition of the tablets etc. transported on the transparent conveyor is detected by a chipping detection sensor and a surface defect detection sensor, and the output signal is sent to the control device. Based on these signals, the control device comprehensively determines whether or not the tablet, etc. is defective, and if there is a defect, it sends a signal to the defective product discharge section and removes the tablet, etc. from the transparent conveyor.

[Example] Fig. 1 is a plan view schematically showing the present invention, and Fig. 2 is a side view thereof. In both figures, 21 is a hopper into which tablets, etc. are placed, 22 is a linear feeder, 23 is a turntable, 24 is a guide, and 25 is a sprocket 27 and a pulley 28.
It is an endless grooved conveyor belt suspended between the two. 30 is an endless transparent conveyor consisting of two transparent wire rods 31.31a, such as transparent fibers, arranged side by side, which is hung between a sprocket 27 and a pulley 29.29a, and conveys tablets etc. T at predetermined intervals in the direction of arrow a. transport. As shown in FIG. 3, both wire rods 31 and 31a are arranged in the grooves 26 and 26a of the grooved belt conveyor 25, and the interval g between them is slightly narrower than the diameter of the tablets, etc. to be inspected. . 3
2 is a conveyor for receiving good products, which moves at a slower speed than the transparent conveyor 30. 33 is a box that receives a good item.

34 is a defective product discharge section provided upstream of the good product receiving conveyor 32, 35 is a defective product collection box, and 36 is an air outlet for discharging defective products. 37 is a chipping detection sensor disposed between the grooved belt conveyor 25 and the defective product discharge section 34 and close to the transparent conveyor 30; 38, 39, 40.
Reference numeral 41 denotes surface defect detection sensors arranged at 90° intervals vertically and horizontally within the same vertical plane as shown in FIG. 4 on the downstream side of the camera 37. Control devices such as microcomputers (
(not shown) to comprehensively judge defects in tablets, etc. Note that the interval g1 between the chipping detection camera 37 and the surface defect detection cameras 38 to 41 is equal to the feeding pitch P of the tablet, etc.
It is consistent with

Next, the present invention configured as described above will be explained in detail.

The tablets, etc. 21 put into the hopper 21 are fed in a line from the turntable 23 to the guide 24 via the linear feeder 22, and are fed onto the grooved belt conveyor 25 at a predetermined pitch (see Fig. 3). . The tablets etc. T are conveyed in the direction of arrow a by the grooved belt conveyor 25, and then transferred onto the transparent conveyor 30 and conveyed in the direction of arrow a. At this time, the chipping detection sensor 37 first detects chips, deformations, etc., and then the surface defect detection sensors 38 to 41 arranged on the top, bottom, left, and right sides detect foreign matter adhesion, dirt, scratches, cracks, etc. on the surface. Ru. These detection results are sent to a microcomputer and processed, and it is determined whether each tablet or the like has a defect. If any defect is found in a particular tablet, etc., the tablet, etc.
When the tablets T reach the discharge section 34, a signal is sent from the microcomputer to the air pressure source, and air is jetted out from the air outlet 36 to release the tablets, etc., onto the transparent conveyor 30. is blown off and collected in a defective product collection box 35.

Tablets etc. T without defects are conveyed as they are, and good items are put into a box 33 from the receiving conveyor 32 which is decelerated.

In the above description, a case is shown in which one chipping detection sensor 37 is provided, but two or more may be provided, and a case in which four surface defect detection sensors 38 to 41 are provided in the upper, lower, left, and right directions is shown. However, it is sufficient if there are two or more.

Moreover, the arrangement positions of these are not limited to the upstream side or the downstream side.

In addition, although the case where the sprocket 27 is used for both the grooved belt conveyor 25 and the transparent conveyor 30 is shown, it is also possible to provide them separately. The tablets etc. T sent out through the transparent conveyor 30 may be directly supplied onto the transparent conveyor 30.

Furthermore, although the case has been described in which defective products are discharged by blowing out air in the discharge section 34, other means may be used, such as using a solenoid, for example.

[Effects of the Invention] As is clear from the above description, according to the present invention, the following remarkable effects can be obtained.

(1) Since a transparent conveyor made of transparent wire is used to transport tablets, etc., defects on the bottom surface as well as the side surfaces can be detected without blind spots.

(2) Since the transparent conveyor is constructed by arranging two transparent wire rods in parallel, even tablets and capsules having arcuate portions on the front and back sides can be stably conveyed.

(3) Even if the dimensions of tablets, etc. change, they can be transported without replacing parts and defects can be detected.

If the dimensions change significantly, the distance between the two wires forming the transparent conveyor may be changed.

(4) If the wire of the transparent conveyor becomes soiled, it can be simply replaced, and the cost and time required for replacement are extremely small.

(5) Since tablets and the like are transported by a transparent conveyor to detect defects, high-speed operation (1800 tablets/minute) is possible, and work efficiency can be greatly improved compared to the conventional method.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 1 is a plan view schematically showing an embodiment of the present invention, Figure 2 is a plan view schematically showing an embodiment of the present invention.
The figure is a side view, Figure 3 is a sectional view taken along line A-A in Figure 1, and Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line A-A in Figure 1.
The figure is the same <BB sectional view. 21: Hopper, 23: Turntable, 24: ° guide, 25: Grooved belt conveyor, 30: Transparent conveyor,
31.31a: Transparent wire rod, 32: Good product receiving conveyor, 34: Defective product discharge section, 36: Air outlet, 37
: Chip detection sensor, 3g, 39, 40.41 : Surface defect detection sensor. Agent Patent Attorney Muneharu Sasaki Procedural Amendment (Method) April 7, 1986

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) A turntable that sends out tablets, etc. one by one, a transparent conveyor made of two endless transparent wires arranged side by side and that conveys the tablets, etc. supplied from the turntable at a predetermined interval, and the transparent conveyor a defective product discharge section provided upstream of the conveyance terminal end of the defective product discharge section; a chip detection sensor and a surface defect detection sensor disposed close to the transparent conveyor on the upstream side of the defective product discharge section; An automatic defect inspection device for tablets, etc., comprising a control section that inputs output signals from each sensor, determines defective tablets, etc., and sends a signal to the defective product discharging section. (2) The automatic defect inspection device for tablets and the like according to claim 1, wherein the defective product discharge section is provided with an air outlet. (3) The automatic defect inspection device for tablets and the like as set forth in claim 1, wherein the surface defect detection sensors are provided at 90° intervals vertically and horizontally in a plane perpendicular to the transparent conveyor.