KR102364911B1 - Granular material supply apparatus, printing apparatus including same, and granular material supply method - Google Patents

Abstract

By eliminating the bridge|bridging of a granular material when it generate|occur|produces in a conveyance path|route, it suppresses that a granular material is damaged, and also suppresses the fall of the throughput of supply of a granular material. The granular material supply device 23 includes a transport path 231 and a rake member. The conveying path 231 is formed by winding a wire rod in a spiral shape, and has elasticity in the vertical direction. The rake member performs a first operation of moving from a lower position toward an upper position disposed above the lower position while contacting the upper and lower intermediate portions of the wire rod constituting the transfer path 231 .

Description

Granular material supply apparatus, printing apparatus including same, and granular material supply method

The present invention relates to a granular material supply apparatus, a printing apparatus including the same, and a granular material supply method. More particularly, it relates to a granular material supply device and a granular material supply method for transferring the granular material downward according to its gravity.

Conventionally, in a packaging machine for packaging granular materials (eg, PTP packaging machine) or a printing device for printing on granular materials (eg, tablet printing apparatus), etc., in order to align and convey the granular material, wire rods such as metal wires It is known to use a transport path formed by winding a wire spirally. This kind of technology is disclosed in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2, for example.

The tablet filling apparatus described in Patent Document 1 includes a chute (transfer path) for transferring the tablet as a granular material downward according to the gravity thereof. Moreover, this tablet filling apparatus is provided with the mounting plate which adjoins the chute and supports the said chute. While one end of the chute is fixed to this mounting plate, a vibration generating device is attached. In the tablet filling apparatus described in Patent Document 1, vibration is applied to the chute by this vibration generator. In the tablet filling apparatus described in Patent Document 1, it is said that, by such a configuration, generation of bridges in the chute can be suppressed to a minimum, and loss time and damage rate of the tablet can be reduced.

The PTP packaging machine described in patent document 2 is equipped with the spring pipe (transfer path|route) for conveying the tablet as a granular material downward according to the gravity. Moreover, this PTP packaging machine is provided with the regulation guide means for regulating the downward movement of the tablet in a spring pipe. This regulation guide means has a pair of rolls and a moving means for moving the said roll. In the PTP packaging machine described in Patent Document 2, when the tablets of the filling device are supplied to the PTP packaging machine, the roll is moved from the top to the bottom by a moving means while the spring pipe is wound around the pair of rolls in an approximately N shape. By doing so, the tablet in the spring pipe is slowly transferred downward. In the PTP packaging machine described in patent document 2, it is said that damage to the tablet conveyed from top to bottom can be suppressed by such a structure.

As described above, in the prior art, in order to solve a case where a bridging of the granular material occurs in the conveyance path, a simple vibration is applied to the conveying path, or measures such as intentionally slowing down the conveying of the granular material in the conveying path was being taken

Japanese Public Utility Model Publication No. 7-26302 Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2006-62710

However, since the tablet in which the bridge|bridging generate|occur|produced was pressed by the other tablet filled above it, just by providing a simple vibration to a conveyance path like patent document 1, a bridge|bridging may not be eliminated. On the other hand, when the conveyance to the downward direction of the granular material in a conveyance path|route is intentionally slow like patent document 2, the new problem that the throughput of supply of a granular material falls arises. Thus, in the technique described in patent document 1 and patent document 2, there was still room for improvement.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and its potential object is to eliminate the occurrence of bridging of the granular material in the case of bridging the granular material in the transport path, thereby suppressing damage to the granular material, and further, the throughput of the granular material supply It is to provide a granular material supply apparatus which can also suppress this fall, a printing apparatus provided with the same, and a granular material supply method.

The problem to be solved by the present invention is as described above, and means for solving the problem will be described next.

In a first aspect of the present application, there is provided a granular material feeding device for transferring the granular material downward according to its gravity. This granular material feeding device has a conveyance path and a rake member. The transport path is formed by winding a wire rod in a spiral shape, and has elasticity in the vertical direction. The rake member performs a first operation of moving from a lower position toward an upper position disposed above the lower position while contacting the upper and lower intermediate portions of the wire rod constituting the transport path.

In a second aspect of the present application, in the granular material supply device according to the first aspect, the rake member performs a second operation of returning from the upper position to the lower position without contacting the wire rod constituting the transport path. , alternately and repeatedly with the first operation.

In a third aspect of the present application, in the granular material supply device according to the first aspect or the second aspect, the granular material is a tablet to be taken by a consumer.

In a fourth aspect of the present application, in the granular material supply device according to the third aspect, the tablet is an oval tablet.

In a fifth aspect of the present application, in the granular material supply apparatus according to any one of the first aspect to the fourth aspect, a plurality of the conveying paths exist. In addition, the rake member simultaneously acts on the wire members constituting the plurality of transport paths.

In a sixth aspect of the present application, in the granular material supply apparatus according to any one of the first to the fifth aspects, the rake member is made of resin.

In a seventh aspect of the present application, in the granular material supply apparatus according to any one of the first to the sixth aspects, the rake member has a convex curved surface, and the curved surface is in contact with the wire rod.

In an eighth aspect of the present application, in the granular material supply apparatus according to any one of the first to the seventh aspects, the rake member performs the first operation at a frequency of 20 times/minute or more and 200 times/minute or less. Repeat.

In a ninth aspect of the present application, in the granular material supply apparatus according to any one of the first to eighth aspects, the frequency at which the rake member repeats the first operation can be changed according to the weight of the granular material.

In a tenth aspect of the present application, in the granular material supply apparatus according to any one of the first to the ninth aspects, the rake member repeats the first operation in synchronization with the rotational motion output from the electric motor.

In an eleventh aspect of the present application, in the granular material supply apparatus according to the tenth aspect, the rake member rotates about a rotation axis. Moreover, the said rake member is arrange|positioned only in one phase position among the whole circumference of the said rotation shaft.

In a twelfth aspect of the present application, there is provided a printing apparatus comprising the granular material supply apparatus according to any one of the eleventh aspects from the first aspect, and a printing unit. The printing unit prints on the surface of the supplied granular material.

In a thirteenth aspect of the present application, there is provided a method of feeding granular material using a granular material feeding device having a conveying path and a rake member. The transport path is formed by winding a wire rod in a spiral shape, and has elasticity in the vertical direction. The rake member may be in contact with the upper and lower middle portions of the wire rod constituting the transport path. In this granular material supply method, the following steps a) to c) are performed. In the said process a), a granular material is supplied in the said conveyance path from the upper end of the said conveyance path. In the step b), while the rake member is brought into contact with the upper and lower intermediate portions of the wire rod, the rake member is moved from the lower position toward the upper position disposed above the lower position. In the step c), after the step b), the rake member is returned from the upper position to the lower position while the rake member is separated from the wire rod.

In a fourteenth aspect of the present application, there is provided a method for supplying a granular material, wherein the steps b) and c) are alternately and repeatedly performed.

According to the first to fourteenth aspects of the present application, when a bridge of a granular material occurs in the conveyance path, by eliminating this, damage to the granular material can be suppressed, and the decrease in the throughput of the granular material supply is also suppressed. can do.

In particular, according to the first aspect of the present application, when the wire rod is pulled up in contact with the rake member performing the first operation, the spiral formed by the wire rod increases, and the passage in the transport path through which the granular material passes can be narrowed. In connection with this, the posture of the granular object is corrected, and the bridge is eliminated. As a result, while being able to suppress that the throughput of supply of a granular material falls, damage to a granular material can be suppressed.

In particular, according to the second aspect of the present application, by the first operation, the wire rod is pulled up in contact with the rake member, so that the spiral formed by the wire rod is increased, and the granular material is vertically aligned in the conveying passage. After that, while the rake member performs the second operation, the spiral formed by the wire is reduced, and the granular material naturally falls in the conveying path according to its gravity. By repeating such a 1st operation|movement and 2nd operation|movement, the bridge|bridging of a granular material is eliminated, and supply of a granular material is accelerated|stimulated.

In particular, according to the third aspect of the present application, it is possible to suppress breakage due to the occurrence of bridges or the like in the process of conveying the tablet using the granular material feeding device. Therefore, it is possible to provide a high-quality tablet to the consumer.

Here, in general, since the oval crystal tends to rotate in the long axis direction, bridges are likely to occur in the transport process. In this respect, according to the 4th viewpoint of this application, the bridge|bridging which tends to generate|occur|produce by an oval crystal can be eliminated by operation|movement of a rake member.

According to the fifth aspect of the present application, by the common rake member, bridges that may occur in each of a plurality of transport paths can be simultaneously eliminated. Accordingly, a configuration for eliminating the bridge can be realized at low cost.

In particular, according to the sixth aspect of the present application, since the rake member repeats contact with the wire rod, even if the rake member is worn, metal powder is not generated. Therefore, the effort, such as cleaning in a granular material supply apparatus, can be reduced. Further, for example, when the granular material is a tablet to be taken by a consumer, it is possible to prevent the metal pieces from adhering to the tablet.

In particular, according to the seventh aspect of the present application, it is possible to prevent the rake member from being caught in the contact portion with the wire rod. Accordingly, the spiral formed by the wire rod can be smoothly stretched and the posture of the granular object is smoothly corrected.

In particular, according to the eighth aspect of the present application, by increasing the spiral formed by the wire rod and narrowing the conveying path, the posture of the granular object in the conveying path is corrected, and then the spiral formed by the wire is reduced and the conveying path is widened, so that within the conveying path The granular material falls under gravity, the cycle can be repeated with an appropriate cycle. In other words, the spiral formed by the wire rod can be expanded and contracted with a sufficient stroke in order to send out the granular material deposited by forming a bridge within the transport path.

In particular, according to the ninth aspect of the present application, for example, the lighter the weight of the granular material, the less frequently the first operation can be performed. Thereby, after correcting the posture of the granular object in the transport path, it is possible to properly secure a time interval necessary for free-falling and discharging to the outside according to the weight of the granular object.

In particular, according to the tenth aspect of the present application, the first operation can be easily repeated using the rotational motion output from the electric motor. As a result, the bridge|bridging of a granular material can be eliminated periodically by a simple structure.

According to the eleventh aspect of the present application, with a simple configuration, the spiral formed by the wire rod can be expanded and contracted with a sufficient stroke.

According to the twelfth aspect of the present application, the granular material can be stably supplied to the printing unit. As a result, it is possible to smoothly print the granular material.

According to the thirteenth aspect of the present application, when the wire rod is pulled up in contact with the rake member, the spiral formed by the wire rod is increased, so that the granular material is vertically aligned in the transport path. After that, while the rake member is spaced apart from the wire rod, the spiral formed by the wire rod decreases, and the granular material naturally falls in the conveying passage according to its gravity. In this way, by the simple operation of the rake member, the bridging of the granular material is eliminated, and the supply of the granular material is promoted.

In particular, according to the fourteenth aspect of the present application, by intermittently and repeatedly performing the operation of the rake member pulling the wire rod, the occurrence of the bridge can be periodically eliminated.

1 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of a granular material printing apparatus provided with a granular material supplying apparatus according to the present embodiment.
2 : is a perspective view of conveyance drum vicinity.
3 is a perspective view showing the configuration of a rake apparatus including a rake member according to the present embodiment.
Fig. 4A is a schematic diagram showing a state when a bridge of a granular material is generated in a transport path.
Fig. 4B is a schematic view showing a state in the transport path when the rake member is subjected to a first operation from the state of Fig. 4A; The circle of the dashed-dotted line in the figure has shown the rake member at the time of being in a downward position. The circle of the solid line in the figure has shown the rake member at the time of being in an upper position.
Fig. 4C is a schematic view showing a state in the transport path when the rake member is subjected to a second operation from the state of Fig. 4B. The black arrow in the figure has shown the direction in which a granular material falls.

EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION Hereinafter, preferred embodiment of this invention is described, referring drawings. In the following description, the direction in which gravity is applied to the granular material may be referred to as "downward", and the direction opposite to the downward direction may be referred to as "upward" in some cases.

<1. Configuration of tablet printing device>

First, for the overall configuration of a tablet printing apparatus (granular material printing apparatus) 1 including a tablet feeding apparatus (granular material feeding apparatus) 23 according to an embodiment of the present invention, see Figs. 1 and 2 . to explain Fig. 1 shows a schematic configuration of a tablet printing apparatus 1 for printing on a tablet 9 as a granular material. 2 : has shown the structure of the conveyance drum 30 and its periphery.

The tablet printing apparatus 1 of this embodiment prints images such as a product name, product code, manufacturer name, logo mark, etc. on the surface of each tablet 9 while conveying a plurality of tablets 9 which are granular materials. it is a device As shown in FIG. 1 , the tablet printing apparatus 1 of the present embodiment includes a hopper 10 , a feeder unit 20 , a conveying drum 30 , a first printing unit 50 , and a second printing unit 60 . ), a carry-out conveyor 70 , and a control unit 80 .

The hopper 10 is an injection|throwing-in part for taking in the many tablets 9 collectively in an apparatus. The hopper 10 is arranged at the top of the casing 100 of the tablet printing apparatus 1 . The hopper 10 has an opening 11 located on the upper surface of the casing 100 and a funnel-shaped inclined surface 12 that gradually converges as it goes downward. The plurality of tablets 9 injected into the opening 11 flows along the inclined surface 12 into a straight feeder 21 to be described later.

The feeder part 20 is a mechanism which conveys the some tablet 9 injected|thrown-in to the hopper 10 to the conveyance drum 30. The feeder part 20 of this embodiment has the linear feeder 21, the rotary feeder 22, and the supply feeder (granular material supply apparatus) 23. The straight feeder 21 has a flat plate-shaped vibration trough 211 . The plurality of tablets 9 supplied from the hopper 10 to the vibration trough 211 are conveyed to the rotary feeder 22 side by the vibration of the vibration trough 211 . The rotary feeder 22 has a disk-shaped rotary table 221 . The plurality of tablets 9 that have fallen from the vibration trough 211 to the upper surface of the rotary table 221 are collected in the vicinity of the outer periphery of the rotary table 221 by centrifugal force caused by the rotation of the rotary table 221 .

The supply feeder 23 as a granular material supply apparatus which concerns on this embodiment conveys the tablet 9 from the outer peripheral part of the rotary table 221 to the conveyance drum 30. As shown in FIG. In more detail, the supply feeder 23 has a conveyance path 231 and a segmenting part 232 mentioned later, etc. FIG. 1 and 2, the conveyance path 231 is shown by the dashed-two dotted line. The conveyance path 231 is a cylindrical path through which the tablet 9 passes in order to convey the tablet 9 downward according to the gravity. The conveyance path 231 of this embodiment is formed by wire 231a, such as a metal wire, being wound spirally. Therefore, this conveyance path 231 is expandable and contractible by enlarging/reducing the dimension in the radial direction of the spiral formed by the wire rod 231a. In other words, the transport path 231 is configured as a spring chute (coil pipe) having elasticity.

As shown in FIG. 2 , a plurality of (eight in this embodiment) transport paths 231 are arranged substantially parallel to each other so as to extend in the vertical direction. The plurality of tablets 9 conveyed to the outer periphery of the rotary table 221 shown in Fig. 1 are respectively supplied to any one of the plurality of conveying paths 231, and within the conveying path 231, more specifically, the wire rod ( 231a) falls in the spiral formed by . And in each conveyance path|route 231, the some tablet 9 is supplied. In this way, the plurality of tablets 9 are dispersedly supplied to the plurality of transfer paths 231 , and are thus arranged in a plurality of (eight in this embodiment) conveyance rows. And the some tablets 9 of each conveyance row are cut out one by one by the segmenting part 232 shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 sequentially from the thing of a lower stage. The cut tablets 9 of each conveyance row are supplied to the conveyance drum 30.

Moreover, the supply feeder 23 is equipped with the rake apparatus 90 shown to FIG. 1 and FIG. 3 other than each member mentioned above. The specific configuration of the rake device 90 will be described in detail later.

The conveying drum 30 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is a mechanism to which the tablet 9 cut|disconnected by the segmenting part 232 is passed. The conveying drum 30 has a substantially cylindrical outer peripheral surface. The conveyance drum 30 rotates in the direction of the arrow in FIGS. As shown in FIG. 2, the some holding|maintenance part 31 is formed in the outer peripheral surface of the conveyance drum 30. As shown in FIG. The holding part 31 is a recessed part concave toward the inside from the outer peripheral surface of the conveyance drum 30. As shown in FIG. The some holding|maintenance part 31 is the width direction position corresponding to each of the some conveyance row mentioned above. WHEREIN: In the outer peripheral surface of the conveyance drum 30, it is arrange|positioned along the circumferential direction. Moreover, the suction hole 32 is formed in the bottom part of each holding|maintenance part 31. As shown in FIG.

A suction mechanism (not shown) is formed inside the conveying drum 30 . When the suction mechanism is operated, a negative pressure lower than atmospheric pressure is generated in each of the plurality of suction holes 32 . The holding unit 31 adsorbs and holds the tablets 9 supplied from the supply feeder 23 one by one by the negative pressure. Moreover, the blowing mechanism which abbreviate|omitted illustration is provided in the inside of the conveyance drum 30. As shown in FIG. The blowing mechanism blows out the gas pressurized locally from the inside of the conveyance drum 30 toward the conveyer 51 side mentioned later. Thereby, in the holding|maintenance part 31 which does not oppose the conveyer 51, while maintaining the adsorption|suction state of the tablet 9, in the holding|maintenance part 31 which opposes the conveyer 51, the tablet 9 adsorption is released. The conveying drum 30 can rotate, adsorbing and holding the some tablet 9 supplied from the supply feeder 23 in this way, and can hand these tablets 9 to the conveyer 51.

The state detection camera 33 is provided in the position which opposes the outer peripheral surface of the conveyance drum 30. As shown in FIG. The state detection camera 33 images|photographs the tablet 9 conveyed by the conveyance drum 30, and transmits the obtained image to the control part 80. The control unit 80 detects the presence or absence of the tablet 9 in each holding unit 31 and the front and back and rotation angles of the tablet 9 held by the holding unit 31 based on the received image. .

The first printing unit 50 is a processing unit for printing an image on one surface of the tablet 9 . The first printing unit 50 includes a conveyer 51 , a state detection camera 52 , a head unit 53 , an inspection camera 54 , and a fixing unit 55 .

The conveyer 51 is a conveying mechanism of well-known structures, such as a belt conveyor. The conveyance belt 512 of the conveyer 51 is arrange|positioned so that the part may adjoin and oppose the outer peripheral surface of the conveyance drum 30. As shown in FIG. The conveyance belt 512 of the conveyer 51 rotates in the arrow direction in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 by the motive power obtained from the motor which abbreviate|omitted illustration.

As shown in FIG. 2 , a plurality of holding units 513 are provided on the conveyance belt 512 of the conveyer 51 . The holding portion 513 is a concave portion concave from the outer surface of the belt of the conveyer 51 toward the inner side. The plurality of holding portions 513 are arranged in the conveyance direction in the width direction positions corresponding to each of the plurality of conveyance columns. The space|interval of the width direction of the some holding part 513 in the conveyance belt 512 of the conveyer 51 is equal to the space|interval of the width direction of the some holding|maintenance part 31 in the conveyance drum 30 Do.

At the bottom of each holding part 513, an adsorption hole 514 is formed. Moreover, the conveyer 51 has a suction mechanism which abbreviate|omitted illustration inside the conveyance belt 512. When the suction mechanism is operated, a negative pressure lower than atmospheric pressure is generated in each of the plurality of suction holes 514 . The holding unit 513 adsorbs and holds the tablets 9 passed from the conveying drum 30 one by one by the negative pressure. Thereby, the conveyer 51 conveys the some tablet 9, hold|maintaining in the state aligned with the some conveyance row spaced apart in the width direction. Moreover, the blowing mechanism which abbreviate|omitted illustration is formed in the conveyance belt 512. As shown in FIG. When the blowing mechanism is operated, in the holding part 413 opposite to the conveyer 61 mentioned later, the adsorption|suction of the tablet 9 in the said holding part 413 is cancelled|released, and it conveys from the conveyer 51. To the conveyor 61 , tablets 9 are handed over.

The state detection camera 52 is an imaging part which image|photographs the state of the tablet 9 hold|maintained by the conveyer 51 in the upstream of the conveyance direction rather than the head unit 53. The state detection camera 33 and the state detection camera 52 image the surface of the tablet 9 on the opposite side to each other. An image obtained by the state detection camera 52 is transmitted from the state detection camera 52 to the control unit 80 . The control unit 80 detects the presence or absence of the tablet 9 in each holding unit 513 and the front and back and rotation angles of the tablet held by the holding unit 513 based on the received image.

The head unit 53 prints on the surface of the tablet 9 by discharging ink droplets toward the surface of the tablet 9 conveyed by the conveyer 51 . The head unit 53 has a plurality of heads 531 arranged along the conveyance direction. The plurality of heads 531 discharge ink droplets of different colors from each other toward the surface of the tablet 9 . In this way, a multicolor image is printed on the surface of the tablet 9 .

The inspection camera 54 is an imaging unit for confirming the print result by the head unit 53 . The inspection camera 54 images the tablet 9 conveyed by the conveyance belt 512 in the downstream side of the conveyance direction rather than the head unit 53. Moreover, the inspection camera 54 transmits the obtained image to the control part 80. The control unit 80 inspects, based on the received image, whether the image printed on the surface of each tablet 9 has any defects.

The fixing unit 55 is a mechanism for fixing the ink discharged from the head unit 53 to the tablet 9 . For the fixing unit 55 , for example, a heater of a hot air drying type that blows hot air toward the tablets 9 conveyed by the conveyer 51 is used.

The second printing unit 60 is a processing unit for printing an image on the other side of the tablet 9 after printing by the first printing unit 50 . As shown in FIG. 1 , the second printing unit 60 includes a conveyer 61 , a state detection camera 62 , a head unit 63 , an inspection camera 64 , a fixing unit 65 , and a defective product. It has a recovery part (66). The conveyer 61 conveys while holding the some tablet 9 passed from the conveyer 51 on the upstream side. The state detection camera 62 images the some tablets 9 conveyed by the conveyer 61 in the upstream of the conveyance direction rather than the head unit 63. The head unit 63 discharges ink droplets toward the surface of the tablet 9 conveyed by the conveyer 61 . The inspection camera 64 images the some tablet 9 conveyed by the conveyer 61 in the downstream side of a conveyance direction rather than the head unit 63. The fixing unit 65 fixes the ink discharged from each head 631 of the head unit 63 to the tablet 9 .

For each configuration and function of the conveyer 61, the state detection camera 62, the head unit 63, the inspection camera 64, and the fixing unit 65, the conveyer 51 described above; Since it is equivalent to the state detection camera 52, the head unit 53, the inspection camera 54, and the fixing part 55, the overlapping description is abbreviate|omitted.

The defective product recovery unit 66 collects the tablet 9 judged to be a defective product based on the captured images obtained from the five cameras 33 , 52 , 54 , 62 , 64 . The defective product recovery unit 66 includes a blowing mechanism (not shown) and a collection box 661 disposed inside the conveyer 61 . When the tablet 9 judged to be a defective product is conveyed to the defective product collection part 66, a blowing mechanism will blow the pressurized gas toward the said tablet 9 from the inside of the conveyer 61. Thereby, the said tablet 9 drops off from the conveyer 61, and is collect|recovered by the collection box 661.

The discharging conveyor 70 is a mechanism for conveying the plurality of tablets 9 judged to be non-defective to the outside of the casing 100 of the tablet printing apparatus 1 . The upstream end of the carrying conveyor 70 is located below the carrying conveyor 61 . The downstream end of the unloading conveyor 70 is located outside the casing 100 . A well-known belt conveyance mechanism is used for the carrying out conveyor 70, for example. The plurality of tablets 9 that have passed through the defective product recovery unit 66 fall from the conveyer 61 to the upper surface of the discharge conveyor 70 when the suction of the suction hole is canceled. And the some tablets 9 are carried out to the outside of the casing 100 by the carrying-out conveyor 70. As shown in FIG.

The control unit 80 is means for controlling the operation of each unit in the tablet printing apparatus 1 . The control unit 80 is constituted by a computer having a processor such as a CPU, a memory such as a RAM, and a storage device such as a hard disk drive. In the storage device, a computer program and data for executing print processing and inspection processing are stored.

Moreover, the control part 80 is the above-mentioned straight feeder 21, the rotary feeder 22, the conveyance drum 30, the state detection camera 33, the conveyance conveyor 51, the state detection camera 52, the head Unit 53 , inspection camera 54 , fixing unit 55 , conveyer 61 , state detection camera 62 , head unit 63 , inspection camera 64 , fixing unit 65 , defective product The collection part 66 and the carrying-out conveyor 70, etc. are connected so that communication is possible, respectively.

Moreover, in addition to each part mentioned above, the clogging detection sensor 239 shown in FIG. 1 is also connected to the control part 80 so that communication is possible. The clogging detection sensor 239 is a sensor that detects whether there is a tablet in the segmenting unit 232 . The control unit 80 determines the presence or absence of blockage in the transport path 231 based on the signal received from the blockage detection sensor 239 . For example, when the state in which there is no tablet in the segmenting unit 232 continues for a predetermined time or more, it is determined that blockage has occurred in the transport path 231 . In this case, in order to notify the operator of the occurrence of blockage, the control unit 80 generates, for example, an alarm sound or turns on an alarm lamp (not shown).

Here, in the supply feeder 23 as a granular material supply apparatus, it is preferable that the tablet (granular material) 9 is smoothly conveyed downward, and is supplied to the conveyance drum 30 of a rear stage. However, in a conventionally known transport path of a spring chute, etc., clogging may occur and transport may be stopped. More specifically, while the tablet passes through the conveyance path, the tablet becomes in an inclined posture with respect to the longitudinal direction, and so-called bridges may occur in the conveyance path.

Specifically, in order to smoothly transport the tablet downward, it is necessary to pass the tablet through the transport path with the longitudinal direction of the tablet facing the vertical direction (vertical direction). By the way, depending on the shape of a tablet, the said tablet may rotate during conveyance, and bridge|bridging may generate|occur|produce. A bridge occurs when several tablets of a posture inclined with respect to the longitudinal direction are stacked on top of each other. In particular, when a tablet is an oval tablet, since the said tablet is easy to rotate in various directions, it is known that bridge|bridging becomes more easy to generate|occur|produce. If a bridge occurs in the transport path, it is desired to resolve it quickly. In this regard, the supply feeder 23 of the present embodiment is provided with a rake device 90 having a rake member 94 as a characteristic configuration for quickly eliminating the bridge generated in the transport path 231 . .

<2. Rake device configuration>

Hereinafter, the configuration of the rake device 90 including the rake member 94 according to the present embodiment will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 3 . FIG. 3 schematically shows the configuration of the rake device 90 . The rake device 90 of the present embodiment includes a motor 91 , a rotating shaft 92 , a pair of mounting plates 93 , and a rake member 94 .

The motor 91 is a drive source of the rake device 90 . The rotating shaft 92 rotates in synchronization with the rotation of the output shaft of the motor 91 . The rotation shaft 92 of this embodiment rotates integrally with the output shaft of the motor 91. A pair of mounting plates 93 are fixed to both ends of the rotating shaft 92 . In detail, the central part of the plate surface of the mounting plate 93 is fixed to the edge part of the rotating shaft 92 non-rotatably relatively. The rake member 94 is a resin-made elongate cylindrical member. In addition, as the resin constituting the rake member 94, for example, any one of POM (polyacetal), PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene), PET (polyethylene terephthalate), or at least one of them A composite material containing

The rake member 94 is spanned across a pair of mounting plates 93 in a state parallel to the rotation shaft 92 . In detail, both ends of the rake member 94 are attached to one end in the longitudinal direction of the pair of mounting plates 93 . In addition, a rake member is not formed in the other end of the longitudinal direction of a pair of mounting plates 93. As shown in FIG. In other words, the rake member 94 is formed only at one phase position among the entire circumference of the rotation shaft 92 . When the rotating shaft 92 rotates, the rake member 94 rotates while drawing an arc-shaped locus|trajectory.

As shown in FIG. 3 , the rake device 90 is formed in the vicinity of the plurality of transport paths 231 . More specifically, the rake device 90 is arranged so that the rake member 94 can simultaneously contact the intermediate portions of the plurality of transport paths 231 in the vertical direction within a predetermined rotation range. Strictly speaking, the rake member 94 is in contact with an intermediate portion in the vertical direction of the wire (metal wire) 231a constituting the transport path 231 .

Immediately before the rake member 94 comes into contact with the wire rod 231a , the rake member 94 is disposed below the rotation shaft 92 . The state of the conveyance path 231, the tablet 9, and the rake member 94 at this time is shown in FIG. 4A.

After the state of FIG. 4A, when the rake member 94 reaches a predetermined rotation position (hereinafter, “downward position P1”) in the rotation range with the rotation of the rotation shaft 92, the rake member 94 ) of the peripheral surface 94a is in contact with the upper and lower intermediate portions of the wire rod 231a constituting the transfer path 231 . The state of the conveyance path 231, the tablet 9, and the rake member 94 at this time is shown in FIG. 4B. In addition, in FIG. 4B, the rake member 94 in the downward position P1 is shown with the circle of the dashed-two dotted line.

From the state shown by the dashed-dotted line in Fig. 4B, when the rotation shaft 92 is further rotated, the rake member 94 is disposed above the downward position P1 in the rotation range at a predetermined rotational position (hereinafter referred to as "upward"). position (P2)") is reached. During the operation in which the rake member 94 rotates from the lower position P1 to the upper position P2 (hereinafter, “first operation”), the circumferential surface 94a of the rake member 94 moves along the transport path 231 . It is maintained in contact with the middle portion in the vertical direction of the wire rod 231a constituting the . As a result, the wire rod 231a constituting the transfer path 231 is pulled upward. In addition, in FIG. 4B, the rake member 94 in the upper position P2 is shown with the circle of a solid line. Comparing FIG. 4A and FIG. 4B, it can be seen that the wire rod 231a is stretched along with the first operation of the rake member 94. As shown in FIG.

The helix formed by the wire rod 231a in the state shown in Fig. 4B is narrower in diameter than the helix formed by the wire rod 231a in the state shown in Fig. 4A. In other words, when the rake member 94 performs the first operation, the wire rod 231a is pulled upward and stretched, so that the passage in the conveying path 231 through which the tablet 9 passes can be narrowed. In connection with this, the posture of the tablet 9 is corrected from a bridged state as shown in Fig. 4A to a longitudinally aligned state as shown in Fig. 4B.

From the state shown by the solid line in FIG. 4B, when the rotation shaft 92 rotates further, the rake member 94 rotates in the direction away from the conveyance path 231. As shown in FIG. More specifically, the rake member 94 performs an operation (hereinafter, a “second operation”) which rotates while being spaced apart from the transfer path 231 from the upper position P2 to the downward position P1. Thereby, the rotation position of the rake member 94 returns from the upper position P2 to the downward position P1. The state of the conveyance path 231 in the middle of the 2nd operation|movement being implemented is shown in FIG. 4C. While the second operation is being performed, the circumferential surface 94a of the rake member 94 does not contact the wire rod 231a constituting the transport path 231 . Thereby, the wire rod 231a pulled up like FIG. 4B returns to an original state as shown in FIG. 4C. In other words, as the pitch of the spiral formed by the wire rod 231a is reduced, the passage in the conveyance path 231 is widened. At this time, since the state in which the tablets 9 are bridged with each other is eliminated in the step shown in FIG. 4B , the tablets 9 naturally fall downward in the conveyance path 231 . In this way, the bridge|bridging of tablets 9 comrades is eliminated quickly, and supply of the tablet 9 to the conveyance drum 30 is accelerated|stimulated.

In addition, the rake member 94 of this embodiment performs the said 1st operation|movement and the 2nd operation|movement alternately and repeats using the rotational motion of the said motor 91 when the motor 91 is driven. Thereby, the state in which tablets 9 comrades are bridged is periodically eliminated, and it becomes possible to continuously supply tablets 9 to the conveyance drum 30 stably.

In the present embodiment, the output shaft of the motor 91 is rotated at a rotation speed of 20 rotations/minute or more and 200 rotations/minute or less. Accordingly, the rake member 94 repeats the first operation and the second operation at a frequency of 20 times/minute or more and 200 times/minute or less. Thereby, the spiral formed by the wire 231a is stretched and the posture of the tablet 9 is corrected, and then the spiral formed by the wire 231a is reduced and the tablet 9 falls by its own weight. , can be formed at an appropriate period.

However, in this embodiment, the rotation speed of the rotating shaft 92 can be increased/decreased by software in accordance with the weight of the tablet 9. As shown in FIG. Specifically, in the present embodiment, the lighter the tablet 9, the less frequently the rake member 94 is subjected to the first operation. Thereby, the time interval required in order to substantially free-fall the tablet 9 and to supply it to the conveyance drum 30 can be suitably ensured according to the weight of the tablet 9.

As described above, the supply feeder (granular material supply device) 23 of the present embodiment includes a transfer path 231 formed by winding a wire 231a such as a metal wire in a spiral shape, and a rake member 94 . A rake device (90) is provided. The rake member 94 performs a first operation of moving from the lower position P1 to the upper position P2 while contacting the upper and lower intermediate portions of the wire rod 231a constituting the transfer path 231 . As a result, the wire 231a is brought up in contact with the rake member 94, so that the spiral formed by the wire 231a is increased to narrow the passage in the conveying path 231 through which the tablet (granular material) 9 passes. can In connection with this, the posture of the tablet 9 is corrected, and the bridge is eliminated. As a result, while being able to suppress that the tablet 9 is damaged, it can also suppress that the throughput of supply of the tablet 9 falls.

Moreover, in the supply feeder 23 of this embodiment, the rake member 94 does not contact the wire 231a, The 2nd operation|movement returning from the upper position P2 to the downward position P1 is performed, 1 Repeat the action alternately and repeat. As a result, the wire 231a is brought up in contact with the rake member 94, so that the spiral formed by the wire 231a is stretched, and the tablet 9 is vertically aligned in the conveying passage. Then, while the rake member 94 performs the second operation, the spiral formed by the wire rod 231a decreases, thereby widening the passage through which the tablet 9 passes, and the tablet 9 moves according to its gravity. It falls naturally in the conveyance path 231. By repeating such a first operation and a second operation, the bridge of the tablet 9 is eliminated, and the supply of the tablet 9 is promoted.

In addition, in this embodiment, a "granular material" is a tablet 9 taken by a consumer. In the structure of this embodiment, in the process in which the tablet 9 is conveyed using the supply feeder 23, it can suppress that it is damaged by generation|occurrence|production of a bridge|bridging etc. Accordingly, it is possible to provide the consumer with a tablet 9 of good quality.

Moreover, in this embodiment, the tablet 9 can also be made into an oval tablet. Here, in general, the oval crystal is easy to rotate three-dimensionally, and more specifically, it tends to rotate in the long axis direction, so that a bridge is likely to occur in the transport process. In this respect, according to the structure of this embodiment, the bridge|bridging which tends to generate|occur|produce in the oval crystal can be eliminated by the rotational movement of the rake member 94. As shown in FIG. Alternatively, it is advantageous even if the present invention is applied to a particularly fragile soft capsule as a tablet.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 3, in the supply feeder 23 of this embodiment, the conveyance path|route 231 exists in multiple numbers. The rake member 94 simultaneously acts on the wires 231a of the plurality of transport paths 231 . Thereby, by the common rake member 94, the bridge|bridging which may generate|occur|produce in each of the conveyance path 231 which exists in multiple can be eliminated simultaneously. Accordingly, a configuration for eliminating the bridge can be realized at low cost.

Moreover, in this embodiment, the rake member 94 is made of resin. Thereby, even if the rake member 94 repeats contact with the wire 231a, even if it wears, a metal powder does not generate|occur|produce. Accordingly, it is possible to reduce the effort of cleaning the inside of the tablet printing apparatus 1 . Moreover, it can prevent that metal powder adheres to the tablet 9.

Moreover, in this embodiment, the rake member 94 has the peripheral surface 94a as a convex curved surface, and this peripheral surface 94a contacts the wire 231a. Thereby, it is possible to prevent the rake member 94 from being caught in the contact portion with the wire rod 231a. Accordingly, the spiral formed by the wire rod 231a can be smoothly stretched and the posture of the tablet 9 is smoothly corrected.

Moreover, in this embodiment, the frequency with which the rake member 94 repeats the 1st operation|movement is set to 20 times/min or more and 200 times/min or less. As a result, the spiral formed by the wire 231a increases and the conveyance path 231 narrows, so that the posture of the tablet 9 in the conveying path 231 is corrected, and then the spiral formed by the wire 231a decreases and the conveyance path ( 231) is widened, so that a cycle in which the granular material in the conveying path 231 falls due to gravity can be formed at an appropriate cycle. In other words, the spiral formed by the wire rod 231a can be stretched and contracted with a sufficient stroke in order to expel the tablets 9 deposited by forming a bridge in the transport path 231 to the outside.

Moreover, in this embodiment, the rake member 94 repeats a 1st operation|movement and a 2nd operation|movement in synchronization with the rotational motion output from the motor (electric motor) 91. Thereby, repetition of the 1st operation|movement and the 2nd operation|movement can be implement|achieved easily using the simple rotation motion output from the motor 91.

Moreover, in this embodiment, the rake member 94 rotates centering on the rotating shaft 92. As shown in FIG. Moreover, the rake member 94 is arrange|positioned only in one phase position among the whole perimeter of the rotation shaft 92. As shown in FIG. Accordingly, it is possible to optimize the cycle of the first operation of the rake member 94 while maintaining the rotation speed of the motor at the rated rotation speed of high efficiency. As a result, the spiral formed by the wire rod 231a can be expanded and contracted with a sufficient stroke.

Further, the tablet printing apparatus 1 as a printing apparatus according to the present embodiment includes a supply feeder (granular material supply apparatus) 23 and printing units 50 and 60 . Thereby, the tablet 9 as an example of a granular material can be stably supplied to the printing parts 50 and 60. As a result, it is possible to smoothly print the granular material.

<3. About Variations>

As mentioned above, although preferred embodiment of this invention was described, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment, Unless it deviates from the meaning, it is possible to implement various changes other than what was mentioned above.

In the above embodiment, the rake member 94 rotates in an arc in synchronization with the rotation of the rotation shaft 92 , but it is not limited thereto. The movement of the rake member may not necessarily be a rotational movement, but may be a linear movement using, for example, an air cylinder or the like. That is, the first operation may be such that the rake member moves from the lower position P1 to the upper position P2 while contacting the wire rod.

In the above embodiment, although the first operation and the second operation of the rake member 94 are periodically repeated, it is not necessarily limited to this, and for example, the first operation and the second operation are performed irregularly. it can be done as More specifically, the first operation and the second operation are applied to the rake member 94 only when the blockage of the tablet 9 in a certain transport path 231 is detected by the clogging detection sensor 239 . You can run it. Moreover, you may make the rake member 94 perform a 1st operation|movement and a 2nd operation|movement by the control part 80 regularly or irregularly.

Alternatively, in order to sufficiently ensure a stroke of repetition of the first operation and the second operation in the rake member 94, the rotation shaft 92 may be rotated intermittently, for example.

The rake member 94 may be formed separately for each of the plurality of transport paths 231 .

The "granular material" in the present invention is not limited to tablets as pharmaceuticals to be taken by consumers, and may be tablets as health foods such as supplements, and tablets such as ramune (soda-candy). Alternatively, the "granular material" may be a chip component supplied to the chip mounter.

Although the example in which the granular material supply apparatus (supply feeder 23) which concerns on this invention is used for the tablet printing apparatus 1 was shown in the said embodiment, it is not limited to this. For example, the tablet feeding device as the granular material feeding device according to the present invention may be used for a PTP packaging machine.

Moreover, you may combine each element which appeared in the said embodiment or a modified example suitably in the range which does not produce a contradiction.

1: tablet printing device (printing device)
9: Tablets (granulars)
23: Feeder (granular feeder)
50: first printing unit (printing unit)
60: second printing unit (printing unit)
80: control unit
90: rake device
91: motor (electric motor)
92: axis of rotation
94: no rake
94a: circumferential surface (convex curved surface)
231: transport path
231a: wire rod
232: segmenting unit
239: blockage detection sensor

Claims (14)

As a granular material supply device that transports the granular material downward according to its gravity,
A transfer path in which the wire rod is wound in a spiral shape and has elasticity in the vertical direction;
By performing a first operation of moving from a lower position toward an upper position disposed above the lower position while contacting the upper and lower intermediate portions of the wire rod constituting the transport path, the spiral formed by the wire rod is caught and stretched, and the rising of the wire rod and a rake member for aligning the posture of the granular material longitudinally in the conveyance path by narrowing a passage in the conveyance path through which water passes. The method of claim 1,
The rake member reduces the spiral formed by the wire rod by performing a second operation returning from the upper position to the lower position without contacting the wire rod constituting the transfer path, so that the granular material passes through the transfer The granular material supply apparatus which spreads the passage in the path, so that the granular material naturally falls in the conveying path according to gravity, and alternately and repeatedly with the first operation. 3. The method of claim 1 or 2,
The granular material is a tablet to be taken by the consumer. 4. The method of claim 3,
The tablet is an oval tablet, a granular material supply device. 3. The method of claim 1 or 2,
The transfer path, there are a plurality of,
The rake member, the granular material supply device, which simultaneously acts on the wire rods constituting the plurality of transport paths. 3. The method of claim 1 or 2,
The said rake member is a resin-made, granular material supply apparatus. 3. The method of claim 1 or 2,
The rake member has a convex curved surface,
The granular material supply device, wherein the curved surface is in contact with the wire rod. 3. The method of claim 1 or 2,
and the rake member repeats the first operation at a frequency of 20 times/minute or more and 200 times/minute or less. 3. The method of claim 1 or 2,
The frequency at which the rake member repeats the first operation can be changed according to the weight of the granular material. 3. The method of claim 1 or 2,
and the rake member repeats the first operation in synchronization with the rotational motion output from the electric motor. 11. The method of claim 10,
The rake member rotates about a rotation axis,
The granular material feeding device, wherein the rake member is disposed in only one phase position of the entire circumference of the rotation shaft. The granular material supply device according to claim 1 or 2;
A printing apparatus comprising a printing unit that prints on the surface of the supplied granular material. A transfer path in which the wire rod is wound in a spiral shape and has elasticity in the vertical direction;
As a granular material supply method for supplying a granular material by using a granular material supply device having a rake member that can be in contact with the upper and lower middle portions of the wire rod constituting the transport path, the granular material supply method,
a) feeding the granular material into the conveying path from the upper end of the conveying path;
b) while bringing the rake member into contact with the upper and lower intermediate portions of the wire rod, the rake member is moved from the lower position toward the upper position disposed above the lower position, thereby catching and stretching the spiral formed by the wire rod, by narrowing the passage in the transport path through which the granular material passes, thereby aligning the posture of the granular object longitudinally in the transport path;
c) After the step b), while the rake member is separated from the wire rod, the rake member is returned from the upper position to the lower position, thereby reducing the spiral formed by the wire rod, so that the granular material passes By widening the passage in the conveying path, the granular material naturally falls in the conveying path according to gravity. 14. The method of claim 13,
The step b) and the step c) are alternately and repeatedly performed.

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