TW202126560A - Transport processing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention provides an apparatus capable of removing or reducing the fine powder of the tablets adhering to the transport belt without adding a new path for cleaning the transport belt for transporting tablets and without directly contacting the transport belt. The transport processing device is a device for transporting and processing a plurality of tablets, and has an adsorption belt (42) and a cleaning device (120). The adsorption belt (42) has a plurality of adsorption holes (421) on the outer peripheral surface (420), and negative pressure is applied to the adsorption holes (421) to suck and hold the tablets while the tablets are transported along a predetermined transporting path. The cleaning device (120) is a device for cleaning the adsorption belt (42), and has a seventh blowing mechanism (B7) and a recovery mechanism (121). The seventh blowing mechanism (B7) blows compressed air to the outer peripheral surface (420) of the adsorption belt (42). The recovery mechanism (121) blows compressed air to the outer peripheral surface (420) of the adsorption belt (42) to recover the fine powder of the tablet blown off from the outer peripheral surface (420).

Description

Handling device

The present invention relates to a conveying and processing device that conveys a plurality of granular materials and performs predetermined processing.

A text or code that can be used to identify the product is printed on the tablet as a medicine. In addition, lozenges such as soda candies are sometimes printed with marks or illustrations. Heretofore, there has been known a printing device that prints images on granular materials such as lozenges and lozenges by an inkjet method. In particular, in recent years, the types of lozenges have been diversified due to the spread of general-purpose medicines. Therefore, in order to easily identify the lozenge, a technology of clearly printing an image on the lozenge by an inkjet method has attracted attention.

In such a printing device, a plurality of tablets flowing into the device are transported one by one at predetermined intervals in the transport direction, and the surface or back of each tablet is subjected to predetermined processing such as printing, inspection, and drying. In the manufacturing process of tablets using such a printing device, since a large number of tablets are sequentially transported over a long period of time, fine powder generated from the tablets may adhere to the transport device. In this case, it is difficult to distinguish between the micropowder attached to the conveying device and the lozenge during the inspection of the lozenge, and there is a possibility that defects may occur in the inspection result. Therefore, for example, Patent Document 1 discloses a device that removes powdered drug (surplus powder) adhering to the conveying belt of the lozenge.

The device (10) described in Patent Document 1 conveys the tablet (T) while sucking and holding the tablet (T) in the suction tank (12b) of the conveying belt (12, 22). In addition, when the tablet (T) passes through the vicinity of the inspection camera (11, 21), the surface (or back) and the side surface of the tablet (T) are inspected for flaws or dirt, and the tablet (T) is transported to the next step. Furthermore, the video signal obtained by the inspection camera (11, 21) is input to the belt cleaning control device (30, 40), and the accumulation of the remaining powder in the conveying belt (12, 22) is detected based on the brightness level of the signal. Furthermore, the brush mechanism (15a) included in the belt cleaning section (15, 25) peels off the remaining powder attached to the conveying belt (12, 22), and sprays a large amount of high-pressure compressed air from the spray nozzle (16) , Clean the dirt of the conveying belt (12, 22). [Prior Art Literature] [Patent Literature]

[Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2008-143653

[The problem to be solved by the invention] However, in the device (10) of Patent Document 1, the conveying belt (12, 22) is provided with a belt cleaning unit (15, 25) for cleaning separately from the conveying path of the lozenge (T). path. Therefore, the entire device including the conveying belt (12, 22) is enlarged, and it may be difficult to arrange it in a limited space. In addition, since the brush mechanism (15a) is in contact with the conveying belt (12, 22), the conveying belt (12, 22) may be damaged or mixed with foreign matter. As a result, there is a possibility of adversely affecting the quality of the tablet (T) manufactured using this device.

In addition, in the device (10) of Patent Document 1, the upper surface side of the lozenge (T) is sucked on the conveying belt (12) and conveyed, and then transferred to the lower surface side of the sucked lozenge (T). When the conveyor belt (22) is used, the tablet (T) vibrates or moves, and the remaining powder of the tablet (T) reattaches to the vicinity of the suction groove (12b) of the conveyor belt (12, 22), which may cause damage Subsequent inspections caused adverse effects. In particular, when transferring the lozenge (T) from the conveying belt (12) to the conveying belt (22), in order to transfer the lozenge (T) more smoothly, the When the conveyance belt (22) sprays air or the like, the remaining powder is further dispersed, and may adhere and accumulate in the vicinity of the suction groove (12b) of the conveyance belt (22).

The present invention was made in view of this situation, and its object is to provide a device that can remove or reduce adhesion to the conveying belt without adding a new path for cleaning the conveying belt and not directly contacting the conveying belt. It is a fine powder of granular material. [Means to solve the problem]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the first invention of the present application is a conveying and processing device that conveys a plurality of granular materials and performs predetermined processing. The suction hole to adsorb and hold the granular material while conveying it along a predetermined conveying path; and a cleaning device to clean the suction belt, and the cleaning device includes: a blower mechanism for all the suction belts The outer surface blows compressed air; and a recovery mechanism that recovers the fine powder of the granular material blown away from the outer surface by blowing the compressed air to the outer surface. [Effects of the invention]

According to the first invention of the present application, it is possible to remove or reduce the fine powder of particulate matter adhering to the suction belt without adding a new path for cleaning the suction belt and without directly contacting the suction belt.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In addition, in the following description, the direction which conveys a some granular material is called "conveyance direction", and the direction perpendicular and horizontal with respect to a conveyance direction is called "width direction."

<1. The overall structure of the tablet printing device> FIG. 1 is a side view of a lozenge printing apparatus 1 as an example of the conveyance processing apparatus of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a plan view of the tablet printing device 1. FIG. 3 is a bottom view of the tablet printing device 1.

The tablet printing device 1 is a device that conveys a plurality of tablets 9 as granular materials while printing images such as product name, product code, company name, brand logo, etc. on the front and back sides of each tablet 9 . In addition, in the present embodiment, as the lozenge 9, an uncoated tablet (bare tablet) other than a coated tablet, a sugar-coated tablet, and a capsule tablet is conceivable that is easy to produce fine powder. Among them, the lozenge 9 may also be lozenges such as lozenges as health foods and soda candies other than lozenges as pharmaceuticals. In addition, in the present embodiment, as the lozenge 9, a light-colored lozenge such as a white color or a pale yellow color is assumed. FIG. 13 is a perspective view of the tablet 9. As shown in FIG. 13, the lozenge 9 includes a circular surface and a back surface, and an annular side surface. However, the shape of the tablet 9 is not limited to this.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the tablet printing device 1 of this embodiment includes: a feeder 10, a conveying conveyor 20, a suction roller 30, a suction conveyor 40, a first camera 50, a printing unit 60, and a second camera 70. The drying mechanism 80, the reversing mechanism 90, the defective product recovery mechanism 100, the qualified product discharge mechanism 110, the cleaning device 120, and the control unit 130.

The feeder 10 is a mechanism for carrying in the plurality of tablets 9 put in the tablet printing device 1 to the conveying conveyor 20. The feeder 10 is constituted by, for example, an input hopper, a rotary feeder, a vibrating feeder, and the like. The plurality of tablets 9 put into the tablet printing apparatus 1 are arranged in a plurality of rows by these mechanisms, and are conveyed to the conveying conveyor 20 at the same time. Specifically, the rows of the tablets 9 arranged in the conveying direction are formed in multiple rows in the width direction. In this embodiment, the rows of tablets 9 are formed in three rows in the width direction. In addition, the arranged plurality of tablets 9 are supplied to the conveying conveyor 20. Furthermore, only one row of tablets 9 is shown in FIG. 1.

The conveying conveyor 20 is a mechanism for horizontally conveying the tablet 9 between the feeder 10 and the suction drum 30. The conveying conveyor 20 includes a pair of pulleys 21 and an endless conveying belt 22 spanned between the pair of pulleys 21. One of the pair of pulleys 21 is rotated by the power obtained from the motor M1. Thereby, the conveying belt 22 rotates in the arrow direction in FIG. 1. The other of the pair of pulleys 21 rotates in accordance with the rotation of the conveying belt 22.

The plurality of tablets 9 supplied from the feeder 10 are placed on the upper surface of the conveying belt 22 and move in the conveying direction together with the conveying belt 22. At this time, although the tablets 9 are arranged in multiple rows in the width direction by the feeder 10, the intervals of the tablets 9 in each row in the conveying direction are not uniform. The plurality of tablets 9 are conveyed in a state of being in close contact with each other in the conveying direction or with a slight interval.

The suction roller 30 is located on the downstream side of the conveying path relative to the conveying conveyor 20 and is a mechanism for transferring the tablet 9 from the conveying conveyor 20 to the suction conveyor 40. The suction drum 30 has a substantially cylindrical outer peripheral surface centered on a rotation axis O extending horizontally in the width direction. As shown by the broken line in FIG. 1, a motor M2 is connected to the suction drum 30. In addition, FIG. 4 is a partial side view of the vicinity of the suction drum 30 of the tablet printing apparatus 1. In FIG. 4, as in FIG. 1, only one row of tablets 9 is shown. As shown in FIG. 4, the suction roller 30 includes a fixed roller 31 and a movable roller 32.

The fixed roller 31 is a cylindrical roller arranged inside the movable roller 32. The fixed roller 31 is fixed to the frame of the tablet printing device 1. Therefore, the fixed roller 31 is kept non-rotating even when the motor M2 is driven. In the outer peripheral part of the fixed drum 31, the internal space R1 is formed in the position of the angle range between the 1st delivery position P1 and the 2nd delivery position P2 mentioned later.

The movable roller 32 is a cylindrical roller arranged outside the fixed roller 31. The movable roller 32 forms the outer peripheral portion of the suction roller 30. The movable roller 32 is connected to the output shaft of the motor M2. Therefore, when the motor M2 is driven, the movable roller 32 rotates with the rotation axis O as the center. The movable roller 32 is provided with a plurality of roller suction holes 301. The plurality of roller suction holes 301 are provided at a plurality of widthwise positions corresponding to each row arranged in the width direction of the plurality of tablets 9 at intervals in the conveying direction. The plurality of roller suction holes 301 respectively communicate with the aforementioned internal space R1. In addition, each drum suction hole 301 opens horizontally in the width direction.

When the suction drum 30 rotates, the plurality of drum suction holes 301 follow an annular shape including a first transfer position P1 close to the upper surface of the conveying belt 22 and a second transfer position P2 close to the surface of the suction belt 42 described later The path moves. In this embodiment, the first delivery position P1 is located directly below the rotation axis O of the suction drum 30. Furthermore, the second delivery position P2 is located on the upstream side in the conveying direction from directly above the rotation axis O of the suction drum 30. However, the positional relationship between the first transfer position P1 and the second transfer position P2 is not limited to this.

Furthermore, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, a first suction mechanism 302 is connected to the suction drum 30. When the first suction mechanism 302 is operated, gas is extracted from the internal space R1 of the suction drum 30. Thereby, the said internal space R1 becomes a negative pressure lower than atmospheric pressure. The tablets 9 conveyed by the conveying conveyor 20 and reaching the first delivery position P1 are sucked and held by the roller suction holes 301 of the suction roller 30 one by one due to this negative pressure. The plurality of tablets 9 are adsorbed and held in each drum suction hole 301 one by one. Thereby, the interval of the conveyance direction of the plurality of tablets 9 is a predetermined interval corresponding to the interval of the drum suction holes 301. That is, in addition to the width direction, a plurality of tablets 9 may be arranged at predetermined intervals in the conveying direction.

While being sucked and held by the drum suction hole 301, the tablet 9 is conveyed from the first handover position P1 to the second handover position P2 along the arrow direction in FIGS. 1 and 4 by the rotation of the suction drum 30. Moreover, when the drum suction hole 301 passes through the second transfer position P2, it deviates from the angular range of the internal space R1 maintained at the negative pressure, whereby the suction of the tablet 9 is released.

Furthermore, the suction drum 30 includes a first air blowing mechanism B1. The first air blowing mechanism B1 is provided on the inner side of the suction drum 30 than the outer peripheral portion including the plurality of drum suction holes 301. In addition, the first air blowing mechanism B1 is provided immediately downstream of the internal space R1 in the conveying direction. The first air blowing mechanism B1 includes a nozzle (not shown), and blows gas only to the drum suction hole 301 that passes through the second transfer position P2 among the plurality of drum suction holes 301. That is, the suction drum 30 of the present embodiment sucks and holds the lozenge 9 in the drum suction hole 301 while rotating and conveying it along the conveying path. Then, at the second transfer position P2 on the conveying path, the first air blowing mechanism B1 is used. A positive pressure is applied to the roller suction hole 301 in which the tablet 9 is adsorbed and held. Thereby, the lozenge 9 is smoothly delivered to the adsorption hole 421 of the adsorption conveyor 40 mentioned later.

Furthermore, the roller suction hole 301 may be opened in the radial direction on the outer peripheral surface of the suction roller 30. In this case, the first air blowing mechanism B1 may also apply pressure to the tablet 9 toward the suction conveyor 40 through the drum suction hole 301.

The suction conveyor 40 is a mechanism that conveys a plurality of tablets 9 along a predetermined ring-shaped conveying path while sucking and holding the plurality of tablets 9. The suction conveyor 40 has a pair of pulleys 41 and an endless suction belt 42 spanned between the pair of pulleys 41. One of the pair of pulleys 41 rotates around a rotating shaft extending horizontally in the width direction by the power obtained from the motor M3. Thereby, the suction belt 42 rotates in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 1. The other of the pair of pulleys 41 rotates in accordance with the rotation of the suction belt 42 around a rotating shaft extending horizontally in the width direction as a center. In addition, in the present embodiment, the color of the outer peripheral surface 420 (outer surface) of the suction belt 42 is, for example, a brown color or a dark color. That is, in the Munsell color system, the lightness of the tablet 9 is larger than the lightness of the outer surface of the tablet 9 that is adsorbed and held in the adsorption belt 42. Furthermore, a high contrast is generated between the original color of the outer peripheral surface 420 of the suction belt 42 and the color of the tablet 9.

FIG. 5 is a partial perspective view of the suction conveyor 40. As shown in FIG. 5, a plurality of suction holes 421 are provided on the outer peripheral surface 420 of the suction belt 42. The plurality of suction holes 421 are arranged at equal intervals in the conveying direction and the width direction. In addition, the suction conveyor 40 of this embodiment further includes a second suction mechanism 44 (refer to FIG. 1 ). The second suction mechanism 44 is a negative pressure generating part that sucks gas from the space R2 inside the suction belt 42. When the second suction mechanism 44 is operated, the space R2 becomes a negative pressure lower than the atmospheric pressure. The plurality of tablets 9 are adsorbed and held in the adsorption hole 421 one by one by the negative pressure. Each adsorption hole 421 adsorbs and holds the surface or the back surface of the tablet 9.

In this manner, the plurality of tablets 9 are held on the outer peripheral surface 420 (outer surface) of the suction belt 42 in a state of being aligned in the conveying direction and the width direction. Then, the suction conveyor 40 rotates the suction belt 42 to move the plurality of tablets 9 along a predetermined annular conveyance path formed by the outer peripheral surface 420 of the suction belt 42. Furthermore, a part of the predetermined endless conveyance path includes a horizontal surface. In this embodiment, below the four nozzle heads 61 described later, the three second air blowing mechanisms B2 described later, the third air blowing mechanism B3 described later, and the fourth air blowing mechanism B4 described below, a plurality of lozenges 9 are arranged horizontally. The direction is moved.

As shown in FIG. 1, the suction conveyor 40 further includes three second air blowing mechanisms B2, a third air blowing mechanism B3, and a fourth air blowing mechanism B4. The three second air blowing mechanisms B2 are provided inside the suction belt 42. In addition, the three second air blowing mechanisms B2 are provided at positions facing the first inclined drum 91, the third inclined drum 93, and the fifth inclined drum 95, which will be described later, with the suction belt 42 interposed therebetween. The three second air blowing mechanisms B2 blow gas only to the suction holes 421 facing the first inclined drum 91, the third inclined drum 93, and the fifth inclined drum 95 among the plurality of suction holes 421 of the suction belt 42. In this way, the adsorption hole 421 becomes a relatively high positive pressure. Thereby, the suction of the tablet 9 on the suction hole 421 is released, and the tablet 9 is transferred from the suction belt 42 to the first inclined drum 91, the third inclined drum 93, and the fifth inclined drum 95. In addition, the configuration of the third air blowing mechanism B3 and the fourth air blowing mechanism B4 will be described later.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, on the outer peripheral surface 420 of the suction belt 42 of the present embodiment, there is a first area A1 that holds the tablet 9 before being reversed by the reversing mechanism 90 described later, and after the reversal is maintained The second area of the lozenge 9 is A2. The first area A1 and the second area A2 are adjacent to each other in the width direction. In this embodiment, in the first area A1 and the second area A2, a plurality of suction holes 421 are provided in three rows in the width direction each. The lozenge 9 delivered from the adsorption drum 30 is adsorbed and held in the adsorption hole 421 of the first area A1. In addition, the plurality of tablets 9 subjected to the printing process on the front and back sides are discharged from the suction holes 421 of the second area A2 to the outside of the tablet printing device 1 by the defective product recovery mechanism 100 or the qualified product discharge mechanism 110.

The first camera 50 is a processing unit for photographing the tablet 9 before printing. The first camera 50 is located at the first inspection position P3 that is closer to the downstream side of the conveyance path than the second transfer position P2 and is closer to the upstream side of the conveyance path than the printing unit 60. In addition, the first camera 50 extends in the width direction across both the first area A1 and the second area A2. The first camera 50 uses, for example, a line sensor in which imaging elements such as a charge coupled device (CCD) or a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) are arranged in the width direction. The first camera 50 images the plurality of tablets 9 conveyed by the suction belt 42 at the first inspection position P3 on the conveyance path. The image obtained by shooting is sent from the first camera 50 to the control unit 130. Based on the result of analyzing the pixel brightness value distribution of the image obtained from the first camera 50, the control unit 130 detects the presence or absence of the lozenge 9 on each adsorption hole 421, the front and back of the lozenge 9, and the winding of the lozenge 9 The rotation posture of the vertical axis and the position of the tablet 9 with respect to the suction hole 421 are shifted. In addition, the control unit 130 also checks whether or not each tablet 9 has defects such as a chip based on the result of analyzing the distribution of the pixel brightness value of the image obtained from the first camera 50.

The printing unit 60 is a processing unit that prints the surface of the tablet 9 by an inkjet method at a printing position on a conveyance path by the suction conveyor 40. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the printing unit 60 of this embodiment has four heads 61. The four nozzles 61 are located above the adsorption belt 42 and are arranged in a row along the conveying direction of the tablet 9. Each head 61 extends in the width direction across both the first area A1 and the second area A2 of the suction belt 42. The four nozzles 61 eject ink droplets of mutually different colors toward the tablet 9. For example, the four heads 61 eject ink droplets of each color of cyan, magenta, yellow, and black. Then, by superimposing the monochromatic images formed by the respective colors, a multi-color image is recorded on the front or back of the tablet 9. In addition, the ink ejected from each nozzle 61 uses an edible ink made from a raw material approved by the Japanese Pharmacopoeia, the Food Sanitation Law, and the like.

FIG. 6 is a bottom view of a spray head 61. As shown in FIG. In FIG. 6, the adsorption belt 42 and the plurality of tablets 9 held by the adsorption belt 42 are represented by a two-dot chain line. As shown enlarged in FIG. 6, a plurality of nozzles 611 capable of ejecting ink droplets are provided on the lower surface of the ejection head 61. In the present embodiment, on the lower surface of the shower head 61, a plurality of nozzles 611 are arranged two-dimensionally in the conveying direction and the width direction. The nozzles 611 are arranged in a shifted position in the width direction. In this way, if a plurality of nozzles 611 are arranged two-dimensionally, the positions of the nozzles 611 in the width direction can be brought close to each other. However, the plurality of nozzles 611 may also be arranged in a row along the width direction.

The method of ejecting ink droplets from the nozzle 611 uses, for example, a so-called piezoelectric method, which deforms a piezoelectric element by applying a voltage to pressurize the ink in the nozzle 611 and eject it. However, the ink droplet ejection method may also be a so-called thermal method, which is a method in which the ink in the nozzle 611 is heated and expanded by energizing a heater to eject it.

The second camera 70 is a processing unit for photographing the lozenge 9 after printing. The second camera 70 is located at the second inspection position P4 on the downstream side of the conveying path than the printing unit 60 and on the upstream side of the conveying path than the drying mechanism 80. In addition, the second camera 70 extends in the width direction across both the first area A1 and the second area A2. The second camera 70 uses, for example, line sensors in which imaging elements such as CCD and CMOS are arranged in the width direction. The second inspection P4 on the conveyance path by the second camera 70 images the plurality of tablets 9 conveyed by the suction belt 42. The image obtained by shooting is sent from the second camera 70 to the control unit 130. Based on the result of analyzing the distribution of the pixel brightness values of the image obtained from the second camera 70, the control unit 130 checks whether there are dirt, offset of the printing part, dot defect, etc. in the image printed on the lozenge 9.

The drying mechanism 80 is a mechanism for drying the ink attached to the surface of the tablet 9. The drying mechanism 80 is located closer to the downstream side of the conveying path than the second camera 70. In addition, the drying mechanism 80 is located closer to the upstream side of the conveying path than the reversing mechanism 90, the defective product recovery mechanism 100, and the qualified product discharge mechanism 110. In addition, the drying mechanism 80 extends in the width direction across both the first area A1 and the second area A2. The drying mechanism 80 uses, for example, a hot air supply mechanism that blows heated gas (hot air) toward the tablet 9 conveyed by the adsorption belt 42. The ink attached to the tablet 9 is dried by hot air, and is fixed to the surface of the tablet 9.

The reversing mechanism 90 is a mechanism that reverses the front and back of the tablet 9 conveyed by the suction belt 42 and moves the tablet 9 from the first area A1 to the second area A2. The reversing mechanism 90 is located closer to the downstream side of the conveying path than the defective product recovery mechanism 100 and the non-defective product discharging mechanism 110 and closer to the upstream side of the conveying path than the suction drum 30.

Fig. 7 is a view of the suction conveyor 40 and the reversing mechanism 90 viewed from the direction of the hollow arrow V1 in Fig. 1. As shown in FIGS. 1, 3, and 7, the reversing mechanism 90 of the present embodiment includes a first tilting roller 91, a second tilting roller 92, a third tilting roller 93, a fourth tilting roller 94, and a fifth tilting roller 95 And the sixth inclined roller 96.

The first inclined roller 91 and the second inclined roller 92 are arranged adjacent to each other in the width direction. The third inclined roller 93 and the fourth inclined roller 94 are located on the downstream side of the conveyance path relative to the first inclined roller 91 and the second inclined roller 92, and are arranged adjacent to each other in the width direction. The fifth inclined roller 95 and the sixth inclined roller 96 are arranged on the downstream side of the conveyance path relative to the third inclined roller 93 and the fourth inclined roller 94 and are arranged adjacent to each other in the width direction. Hereinafter, the position where the first inclined roller 91 and the second inclined roller 92 are installed on the conveyance path of the suction conveyor 40 is referred to as the "first inversion position P5", and the third inclined roller 93 and the fourth inclined roller 94 are installed. The position at which is referred to as the "second reversal position P6", and the position where the fifth and sixth inclined rollers 95 and 96 are provided is referred to as the "third reversal position P7".

The first inclined roller 91 has a conical first side surface 910 centered on the first axis C1 inclined with respect to the width direction. A part of the first side surface 910 faces the first area A1 of the suction belt 42 with a slight gap therebetween. In addition, the first inclined roller 91 is fixed to the output shaft of the motor 91M. If the motor 91M is driven, the first inclined roller 91 rotates around the first axis C1.

The second inclined roller 92 has a conical second side surface 920 centered on the second axis C2 inclined with respect to the width direction. The first inclined roller 91 and the second inclined roller 92 are arranged adjacent to each other in the width direction so that their tops face each other. A part of the second side surface 920 faces the second area A2 of the suction belt 42 with a slight gap therebetween. The other part of the second side surface 920 faces the first side surface 910 with a slight gap. In addition, the second inclined roller 92 is fixed to the output shaft of the motor 92M. When the motor 92M is driven, the second inclined roller 92 rotates around the second axis C2.

In this embodiment, the apex angle of the first inclined roller 91 and the apex angle of the second inclined roller 92 when viewed in the conveying direction of the suction conveyor 40 are both 90°. In addition, the inclination angle of the first axis C1 with respect to the outer circumferential surface 420 of the suction belt 42 is 45°. In addition, the inclination angle of the second axis C2 with respect to the outer peripheral surface 420 of the suction belt 42 is 45°. Therefore, the first side surface 910 and the second side surface 920 face each other at a position of 90° with respect to the outer peripheral surface 420. In addition, the first inclined roller 91 and the second inclined roller 92 have the same shape, structure, and size as each other. Therefore, the first inclined roller 91 and the second inclined roller 92 can be shared as parts. Thereby, the manufacturing cost of the tablet printing apparatus 1 can be reduced.

A plurality of first reverse suction holes 911 are provided on the first side surface 910. The plurality of first reversing suction holes 911 are arranged in an annular shape at equal angular intervals with the first axis C1 as the center. Similarly, a plurality of second reverse suction holes 921 are also provided on the second side surface 920. The plurality of second reversal suction holes 921 are arranged in an annular shape at equal angular intervals with the second axis C2 as the center.

The pressure in the internal space of the first inclined roller 91 is maintained at a relatively large and low negative pressure by a suction mechanism (not shown). The first inclined roller 91 retains the plurality of tablets 9 one by one in the plurality of first reverse suction holes 911 by this negative pressure. Similarly, the pressure of the internal space of the second inclined drum 92 is also maintained at a relatively large and low negative pressure by a suction mechanism (not shown). The second inclined roller 92 holds the plurality of tablets 9 one by one in the plurality of second reverse suction holes 921 by this negative pressure.

As shown by the broken line in FIG. 7, a fifth air blowing mechanism B5 is provided inside the first inclined drum 91. The fifth air blowing mechanism B5 blows gas only to the first inverted suction hole 911 facing the second inclined drum 92 among the plurality of first inverted suction holes 911 of the first inclined drum 91. In this way, the first reversal suction hole 911 becomes a relatively high positive pressure. Thereby, the suction of the tablet 9 in the first inverted suction hole 911 is released, and the first inverted suction hole 911 of the first inclined drum 91 is transferred to the second inverted suction hole 921 of the second inclined drum 92 Tablet 9.

In addition, as shown by the broken line in FIG. 7, a sixth air blowing mechanism B6 is provided inside the second inclined drum 92. The sixth air blowing mechanism B6 blows gas only to the second inverted suction hole 921 that faces the second area A2 of the suction belt 42 among the plurality of second inverted suction holes 921 of the second inclined drum 92. In this way, the second reversal suction hole 921 becomes a relatively high positive pressure. Thereby, the suction of the tablet 9 in the second inverted suction hole 921 is released, and the second inverted suction hole 921 of the second inclined drum 92 is transferred to the suction hole 421 of the second area A2 of the suction belt 42 Tablet 9.

Furthermore, the adsorption force of the plurality of second inverted adsorption holes 921 on the second side surface 920 on the tablet 9 is slightly greater than the adsorption force of the plurality of first inverted adsorption holes 911 on the first side surface 910 on the tablet 9 Appropriate. In this way, when the tablet 9 is transferred from the first inverted suction hole 911 of the first inclined drum 91 to the second inverted suction hole 921 of the second inclined drum 92, the tablet 9 is unlikely to fall off. Wherein, the suction force of the plurality of first inverted suction holes 911 of the first inclined drum 91 and the suction force of the plurality of second inverted suction holes 921 of the second inclined drum 92 may also be the same.

The third inclined roller 93 and the fourth inclined roller 94 have the same structure as the first inclined roller 91 and the second inclined roller 92, and are arranged adjacent to each other in the same manner as the first inclined roller 91 and the second inclined roller 92. Among them, the third inclined roller 93 and the fourth inclined roller 94 are arranged at a second inverted position P6 on the downstream side of the conveyance path than the first inverted position P5 where the first inclined roller 91 and the second inclined roller 92 are arranged. In addition, the third inclined roller 93 and the fourth inclined roller 94 are arranged at positions shifted from the first inclined roller 91 and the second inclined roller 92 by one arrangement interval in the width direction of the tablets 9 in the width direction. The third inclined roller 93 is fixed to the output shaft of the motor 93M. The fourth inclined roller 94 is fixed to the output shaft of the motor 94M.

The fifth inclined roller 95 and the sixth inclined roller 96 also have the same structure as the first inclined roller 91 and the second inclined roller 92, and are arranged adjacent to each other in the same manner as the first inclined roller 91 and the second inclined roller 92. Among them, the fifth inclined roller 95 and the sixth inclined roller 96 are arranged at a third inversion position P7 on the downstream side of the conveyance path than the second inversion position P6 where the third and fourth inclined rollers 93 and 94 are arranged. In addition, the fifth inclined roller 95 and the sixth inclined roller 96 are arranged at positions shifted from the third inclined roller 93 and the fourth inclined roller 94 by one arrangement interval in the width direction of the tablets 9 in the width direction. The fifth inclined roller 95 is fixed to the output shaft of the motor 95M. The sixth inclined roller 96 is fixed to the output shaft of the motor 96M.

As shown in FIG. 3, the tablet 9 held by the suction hole 421 at the first position W1 in the width direction of the suction belt 42 and conveyed to the first reversal position P5 on the conveyance path is delivered to the first inclined drum 91. The first inclined roller 91 sucks and holds the tablet 9 received from the suction belt 42 at the first inverted suction hole 911 of the first side surface 910 at the first inverted position P5, rotates, and then transfers it to the second inclined roller 92. After that, the second inclined roller 92 sucks and holds the lozenge 9 received from the first inclined roller 91 in the second inverted suction hole 921 of the second side surface 920, rotates, and then transfers it to the first in the width direction of the suction belt 42. Two suction holes 421 at position W2. Thereby, the position in the width direction of the tablet 9 in the conveyance path moves from the first position W1 belonging to the first area A1 to the second position W2 belonging to the second area A2, and the front and back of the tablet 9 are reversed.

Similarly, the second reversal position P6 of the third inclined roller 93 and the fourth inclined roller 94 on the conveying path makes the position of the tablet 9 in the width direction on the conveying path belong to the first area A1 in the width direction. The third position W3 is moved to the fourth position W4 in the width direction belonging to the second area A2, and the front and back of the tablet 9 are reversed. In addition, similarly, the fifth inclined roller 95 and the sixth inclined roller 96 are at the third reversal position P7 in the conveying direction, so that the position of the tablet 9 in the width direction on the conveying path belongs to the width direction of the first area A1. The fifth position W5 of A2 is moved to the sixth position W6 in the width direction belonging to the second area A2, and the front and back of the tablet 9 are reversed.

FIG. 8 is a diagram of the suction conveyor 40, the defective product recovery mechanism 100 (part of the drawing is omitted), and the non-defective product discharge mechanism 110 viewed from the direction of the hollow arrow V2 in FIG. 2. The defective product collection mechanism 100 is used to determine the defective product discharge position P8 on the downstream side of the conveying direction from the first inspection position P3 and the second inspection position P4 on the conveying path, and to determine the defective product by the control unit 130 A discharge mechanism in which the tablet 9 is carried out from the suction conveyor 40. As shown in FIG. 8, the defective product collection mechanism 100 includes a defective product chute 101 and a collection box (not shown).

The defective product chute 101 is located closer to the downstream side of the conveying path than the drying mechanism 80 and closer to the upstream side of the conveying path than the non-defective product discharge mechanism 110. The defective product chute 101 is formed in a cylindrical shape. The opening of the upper end of the defective product chute 101, that is, the defective product recovery port 102 and the second area A2 of the outer peripheral surface 420 of the suction belt 42 are opposed to each other in the vertical direction with a gap therebetween.

The third air blowing mechanism B3 of the suction conveyor 40 is provided inside the suction belt 42. In addition, the third air blowing mechanism B3 is provided at a position facing the defective product recovery port 102 with the suction belt 42 interposed therebetween. When the suction hole 421 holding the tablet 9 that is judged as defective has reached the defective product discharge position P8 opposite to the defective product recovery port 102, the third air blowing mechanism B3 only adsorbs the plurality of adsorption belts 42 The suction hole 421 of the defective product discharge position P8 in the hole 421 blows the gas vertically downward. In this way, the adsorption hole 421 becomes a relatively high positive pressure. Thereby, the adsorption of the tablet 9 on the adsorption hole 421 is released, and the tablet 9 falls from the adsorption belt 42 to the defective product recovery port 102.

The lozenges 9 dropped from the suction hole 421 of the suction belt 42 to the defective product collection port 102 of the defective product chute 101 pass through the interior of the defective product chute 101 and are contained in the aforementioned recovery box. Then, the lozenges 9 contained in the recovery box are collected by an operator or the like, and are discarded outside the lozenges printing apparatus 1.

The qualified product discharge mechanism 110 is used for the qualified product discharge position P9 that is on the downstream side in the conveying direction than the first inspection position P3, the second inspection position P4, and the defective product discharge position P8 on the conveyance path, and is controlled by the control unit 130 A discharge mechanism in which the lozenge 9 judged to be a qualified product is carried out from the adsorption conveyor 40. As shown in FIG. 8, the qualified product discharge mechanism 110 includes a qualified product chute 111, a qualified product discharge conveyor 112 and a cover 113.

The qualified product chute 111 is located closer to the downstream side of the conveying path than the defective product recovery mechanism 100. The good product chute 111 has a cylindrical shape and has a partially curved structure. The opening of the upper end of the qualified product chute 111, that is, the qualified product discharge port 114, and the second area A2 of the outer peripheral surface 420 of the suction belt 42 are opposed to each other in the vertical direction with a gap therebetween.

The fourth air blowing mechanism B4 of the suction conveyor 40 is provided inside the suction belt 42. In addition, the fourth air blowing mechanism B4 is provided at a position facing the qualified product discharge port 114 with the suction belt 42 interposed therebetween. When the suction hole 421 holding the tablet 9 which is judged to be a qualified product reaches the qualified product discharge position P9 opposite to the qualified product discharge port 114, the fourth air blowing mechanism B4 only applies to the plurality of suction holes 421 of the adsorption belt 42 The suction hole 421 of the qualified product discharge position P9 blows the gas vertically downward. In this way, the adsorption hole 421 becomes a relatively high positive pressure. Thereby, the adsorption of the tablet 9 in the adsorption hole 421 is released, and the tablet 9 falls from the adsorption belt 42 to the qualified product discharge port 114.

The tablets 9 falling from the suction hole 421 of the suction belt 42 to the qualified product discharge port 114 of the qualified product chute 111 pass through the inside of the qualified product chute 111 and fall to the qualified product discharge conveyor 112. The non-defective product discharge conveyor 112 has the same structure as the above-mentioned conveyance conveyor 20. The pulley 115 of the qualified product discharge conveyor 112 is rotated by the power obtained from the motor M4, so that the conveying belt 116 rotates in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 8. The plurality of lozenges 9 that have fallen to the qualified product discharge conveyor 112 are placed on the conveying belt 116 and carried out to the outside of the lozenge printing apparatus 1.

The cleaning device 120 is a device for cleaning the suction belt 42. The configuration of the cleaning device 120 will be described in detail later.

The control unit 130 controls the operation of each unit in the tablet printing apparatus 1. FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing the connection between the control unit 130 and each unit in the tablet printing apparatus 1. As shown schematically in FIG. 9, the control unit 130 is composed of a processor 131 such as a central processing unit (Central Processing Unit, CPU), a memory 132 such as a random access memory (Random Access Memory, RAM), and a hard magnetic The computer structure of the storage unit 133 such as a disc drive. A computer program CP for executing printing processing is installed in the storage unit 133.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 9, the control unit 130 is connected to the feeder 10, the conveying conveyor 20 (including the motor M1), the suction drum 30 (including the motor M2, the first suction mechanism 302, and the first air blowing mechanism), respectively, as shown in FIG. B1), suction conveyor 40 (including motor M3, second suction mechanism 44, and air blowing mechanism B2 to air blowing mechanism B4), first camera 50, printing unit 60 (including nozzle 61), second camera 70, drying mechanism 80. Reversing mechanism 90 (including motors 91M to 96M, fifth blowing mechanism B5, sixth blowing mechanism B6, and suction mechanism), qualified product discharge mechanism 110 (including motor M4), and cleaning device 120 (including the following The seventh air supply mechanism B7 and the recovery mechanism 121) are communicably connected by wire or wireless. The control unit 130 temporarily reads the computer program CP and data stored in the storage unit 133 to the memory 132, and based on the computer program CP, the processor 131 performs arithmetic processing to control the operation of each unit. Thereby, the conveyance of a plurality of tablets 9 and the printing process for each tablet 9 are performed.

In addition, as described above, the control unit 130 analyzes the distribution of pixel brightness values in the images received from the first camera 50 and the second camera 70, and based on the analysis results, checks the gaps in each lozenge 9 The presence or absence of other defects, or the presence or absence of dirt on the image printed on the tablet 9, offset of the printed part, or dot defect. Then, based on the result of the inspection, it is determined whether each lozenge 9 is a qualified product or a defective product. That is, the control unit 130 functions as an inspection unit and a determination unit that inspect the tablet 9 based on the respective images captured by the first camera 50 and the second camera 70, and determine whether the printing state or shape of the tablet 9 is good or bad.

＜2. Structure of cleaning device＞ Next, the configuration of the cleaning device 120 will be described in detail. FIG. 10 is a partial perspective view of the cleaning device 120 and the suction conveyor 40.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 10, the cleaning device 120 is arranged above the suction drum 30. The cleaning device 120 includes a pair of seventh air blowing mechanisms B7 and a recovery mechanism 121 located between the pair of seventh air blowing mechanisms B7. The pair of seventh air blowing mechanism B7 and the recovery mechanism 121 are respectively fixed to the housing of the tablet printing apparatus 1. In addition, the pair of seventh air blowing mechanism B7 and the recovery mechanism 121 respectively face the suction belt 42 and extend in the width direction across both the first area A1 and the second area A2 of the suction belt 42.

In addition, in FIG. 10, for convenience of description, a pair of seventh air blowing mechanism B7 and recovery mechanism 121 are shown at intervals. However, the pair of seventh air blowing mechanism B7 and the recovery mechanism 121 may be arranged close to each other. In addition, the pair of seventh air blowing mechanism B7 and the recovery mechanism 121 may also be fixed to the frame of the tablet printing apparatus 1 as an integrated unit.

Each seventh air blowing mechanism B7 has one linear nozzle 71. Each linear nozzle 71 of this embodiment is provided with six blowing outlets 710. The six air outlets 710 are respectively provided at positions facing the six suction holes 421 adjacent in the width direction in the suction belt 42. However, these blower outlets 710 may be connected to each other. That is, each linear nozzle 71 has only to have the air outlet 710 arranged at a position facing the one or more suction holes 421 adjacent in the width direction in the suction belt 42.

Each linear nozzle 71 is connected to an air supply source 73 via an air hose 72 (refer to FIG. 4 ). In addition, an on-off valve 74 is provided on the air hose 72. After the opening and closing valve 74 is opened, pressurized clean dry air (compressed air) is supplied from the air supply source 73 through the air hose 72 to the linear nozzle 71.

In this embodiment, the pair of seventh air blowing mechanisms B7 are arranged in the vertical direction. In addition, the pair of seventh air blowing mechanisms B7 each other blow compressed air to the same position on the conveyance path on the outer peripheral surface 420 of the suction belt 42. In the present embodiment, a pair of seventh air blowing mechanism B7 is in the cleaning position P10 on the downstream side of the second delivery position P2 where the tablet 9 is delivered to the suction conveyor 40 from the suction drum 30 on the conveying path to the suction belt 42. The outer peripheral surface 420 blows compressed air. The cleaning position P10 is a position on the conveyance route that is more upstream than the inspection position P3 and the inspection position P4 where the camera 50 and the camera 70 are arranged. More specifically, the pair of seventh air blowing mechanisms B7 are directed to the six suction holes 421 of the outer peripheral surface 420 of the suction belt 42 that are located at the same position (cleaning position P10) in the conveying direction and are adjacent to each other in the width direction. And blow compressed air around them. By blowing compressed air to the outer circumferential surface 420 of the suction belt 42, the fine powder of the tablet 9 adhering to the outer circumferential surface 420 is blown to the space between the pair of seventh air blowing mechanisms B7 in the vertical direction.

The recovery mechanism 121 includes a main body pipe 81 and a vacuum pump 82. An intake port 810 extending in the width direction is formed on one end side of the main body pipe 81. The suction port 810 faces across both the first area A1 and the second area A2 of the outer peripheral surface 420 of the suction belt 42. When the vacuum pump 82 is operated, the fine powder of the tablet 9 blown away from the outer peripheral surface 420 of the adsorption belt 42 is sucked from the suction port 810 together with gas such as air as described above. Furthermore, a filter 83 is provided inside the main body pipe 81, and the filter 83 has a finer mesh than the powder of the tablet 9. Thereby, the recovery mechanism 121 can discharge gas such as air sucked from the air suction port 810 through the filter 83 and recover the fine powder of the tablet 9 in the filter 83. However, the filter 83 does not necessarily need to be installed. Even in this case, the fine powder of the tablet 9 contained in the gas can be recovered at the place where the gas sucked from the gas suction port 810 is discharged.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, the opening and closing of the on-off valve 74 of the pair of seventh air blowing mechanism B7 and the operation of the vacuum pump 82 of the recovery mechanism 121 are controlled by the control unit 130. However, these can also be performed manually by an operator or the like. In addition, not only clean and dry air can be used for the gas ejected from the seventh air blowing mechanism B7, but other gases that do not affect the production of the tablet 9 can also be used. For example, nitrogen gas or the like may be used for the gas ejected from the seventh air blowing mechanism B7. In addition, the seventh air blowing mechanism B7 can always blow out a fixed amount of gas, but depending on the cleaning operation procedure, it may blow out intermittently, temporarily stop the gas blowing, or change the blowing amount every fixed time.

Here, as described above, in order to smoothly transfer the tablet 9 from the adsorption roller 30 to the adsorption conveyor 40, the first air blowing mechanism B1 of the adsorption roller 30 blows gas to the roller adsorption hole 301 just passing through the second delivery position P2. Therefore, fine powder may be further generated from the surface of the tablet 9 or the generated fine powder may be scattered to the suction conveyor 40 and may be further adhered and layered near the periphery of the suction hole 421 or the suction hole 421 of the suction belt 42. In this case, if the tablet 9 is transported again without cleaning, and the tablet 9 is photographed by the first camera 50 and the second camera 70, in the obtained image data, the tablet 9 and It becomes difficult to distinguish the adsorption holes 421 to which the fine powder is adhered, and there is a possibility that defects may occur in the inspection result of the control unit 130.

However, in this embodiment, by cleaning the suction belt 42 using the cleaning device 120, it is possible to remove the fine powder of the tablet 9 adhering to the suction hole 421 or the vicinity of the periphery of the suction hole 421, or to reduce the amount of fine powder. Therefore, it is possible to suppress the adverse effects of the adhesion or layering of the fine powder of the tablet 9 on subsequent inspections. In addition, by using the cleaning device 120 described above, the fine powder of the tablet 9 adhering to the adsorption belt 42 can be removed or reduced without directly contacting the adsorption belt 42. Therefore, it is possible to prevent damage to the suction belt 42 or mixing of foreign substances that may occur in the case of direct contact with the suction belt 42, thereby suppressing adverse effects on the quality of the tablet 9 as a product.

In addition, by using the cleaning device 120 of the present embodiment, it is possible to remove or reduce the fine powder of the lozenge 9 adhering to the suction belt 42 without adding a new path for cleaning the suction belt 42. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the entire tablet printing apparatus 1 including the suction belt 42 from increasing in size. As a result, the cleaning operation of the suction belt 42 can be performed even in a limited space.

In addition, the cleaning device 120 of the present embodiment blows compressed air to the cleaning position P10 that is the same in the conveying direction from a pair of seventh air blowing mechanisms B7 arranged at an interval in the vertical direction. Then, the fine powder of the lozenge 9 blown to the space between the pair of seventh air blowing mechanisms B7 in the vertical direction is recovered by the recovery mechanism 121 located between the pair of seventh air blowing mechanisms B7. Therefore, the fine powder of the lozenge 9 does not scatter around the adsorption belt 42 or the cleaning device 120, and can be collected efficiently. Furthermore, the pair of seventh air blowing mechanisms B7 may be arranged at intervals in the left-right direction, and the recovery mechanism 121 may be arranged between the pair of left and right seventh air blowing mechanisms B7.

FIG. 11 shows the result of verifying the effect seen when the cleaning device 120 is used to clean the suction belt 42 after the printing process of one batch of tablets 9 is performed using the tablet printing device 1 of the present embodiment. Furthermore, in this embodiment, the effect seen when cleaning the suction belt 42 after performing the printing process of about 1 million tablets as one batch was verified. The left diagram of FIG. 11 shows an image taken immediately after the printing process of approximately 1 million tablets 9 by the tablet printing device 1 of the suction belt 42. The right diagram of FIG. 11 shows an image taken by the suction belt 42 when the cleaning device 120 is used to complete the cleaning of the suction belt 42 thereafter.

As shown in Fig. 11, as a result of visual inspection, it was confirmed that when the cleaning device 120 was used for cleaning (right figure), compared with before cleaning (left figure), adhesion of fine powder near the periphery of the suction hole 421 and suction hole 421 was confirmed. The amount is significantly suppressed.

＜3. Regarding the processing flow＞ Next, the flow of conveyance processing, printing processing, and cleaning operations using the tablet printing apparatus 1 will be described. Hereinafter, the processing performed on a certain lozenge 9 and the subsequent operations will be described in order. Here, the tablet printing apparatus 1 carries out predetermined processing while sequentially conveying a plurality of tablets 9 along the conveying path during the conveying process and the printing process. Therefore, inside the lozenge printing apparatus 1, a plurality of lozenges 9 exist at the same time.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing in the tablet printing apparatus 1. When a predetermined number of tablets 9 are put into the tablet printing device 1 (step S1 ), first, the feeder 10 supplies a plurality of tablets 9 to the conveying conveyor 20. Here, the predetermined number is, for example, a batch of tablets, for example, about 1 million. The multiple lozenges 9 supplied to the conveying conveyor 20 are placed on the upper surface of the conveying belt 22 and move to the first delivery position P1 approximately horizontally in the conveying direction along with the rotation of the conveying belt 22 (step S2).

Next, the tablet 9 is sucked and held in the drum suction hole 301 of the suction drum 30 at the first delivery position P1, and moves in the conveying direction to the upper second delivery position P2 by the rotation of the suction drum 30. At this time, the plurality of tablets 9 are arranged so that the interval in the conveying direction of the plurality of tablets 9 becomes a predetermined interval corresponding to the interval of the drum suction hole 301. When the tablet 9 reaches the second delivery position P2, the adsorption of the tablet 9 in the drum suction hole 301 is released. Thereby, the lozenge 9 is delivered from the adsorption drum 30 to the adsorption conveyor 40 (step S3).

Then, the tablet 9 is adsorbed and held in the adsorption hole 421 of the first area A1 of the adsorption belt 42. Then, as the suction belt 42 rotates, the tablet 9 is conveyed along an endless conveying path. Hereinafter, the surface of the tablet 9 facing the outside while being held by the suction holes 421 of the first region A1 is referred to as the "first surface". In addition, the surface adsorbed by the adsorption holes 421 in this state is referred to as the "second surface". In FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, in order to distinguish the first side and the second side, the first side of the tablet 9 is marked with diagonal lines. However, the above-mentioned "first side" and "second side" have nothing to do with the original surface and back surface of the tablet 9. For example, when the tablet 9 is a dividing line ingot having a dividing line 140 (refer to FIG. 13) only on one side, a plurality of tablets 9 held in the first area A1 may be mixed with the dividing line 140. The side of the tablet 9 is the first side and the side without the dividing line 140 is the tablet 9 of the first side.

When the lozenge 9 reaches the first inspection position P3 below the first camera 50, the first camera 50 photographs the first side of the lozenge 9. In this way, the image data of the first side of the tablet 9 is acquired. The acquired image data is sent from the first camera 50 to the control unit 130. The control unit 130 performs a pre-print inspection of the first side based on the image data received from the first camera 50 (step S4). Specifically, check the presence or absence of the tablet 9 on the adsorption hole 421, the front and back of the tablet 9, the rotation posture of the tablet 9 around the vertical axis, the positional deviation of the tablet 9 with respect to the adsorption hole 421, and the tablet The presence or absence of shape defects of 9 and so on.

Next, when the pastille 9 reaches the printing position below the printing unit 60, the four nozzles 61 eject ink droplets toward the first surface of the pastille 9. In this way, the printing process is performed on the first side of the tablet 9. As a result, an image is printed on the first surface of the tablet 9 (step S5). At this time, the control unit 130 adjusts the image to be printed on each tablet 9 based on the inspection result of step S4 described above. For example, an appropriate image is selected according to the surface having the dividing line 140 or the surface on the opposite side thereof, and the selected image is rotated according to the rotation posture of each lozenge 9. Then, based on the adjusted image, a printing signal is input to the head 61. As a result, an appropriate image is printed in an appropriate posture on the first surface of each tablet 9.

Then, when the lozenge 9 reaches the second inspection position P4 below the second camera 70, the second camera 70 photographs the first side of the lozenge 9. In this way, the image data of the first side of the tablet 9 is acquired. The acquired image data is sent from the second camera 70 to the control unit 130. In addition, the control unit 130 performs a post-printing inspection of the first side based on the image data received from the second camera 70 (step S6). Specifically, the control unit 130 compares the image data received from the second camera 70 with the data of the normal image prepared in advance to determine whether the printing state of the first side of each lozenge 9 is good or bad, for example.

Then, when the tablet 9 reaches the vicinity of the drying mechanism 80, the drying mechanism 80 blows hot air toward the first surface of the tablet 9. Thereby, the ink adhering to the first surface of the tablet 9 is dried, and the ink is fixed on the first surface (step S7).

After that, when the tablet 9 reaches the first inversion position P5, the second inversion position P6, or the third inversion position P7 as the inversion position on the conveying path, the inversion mechanism 90 reverses the front and back of the tablet 9 Then, the lozenge 9 is moved from the first area A1 to the second area A2 (step S8). According to the step S8, the tablet 9 is in a state where the first surface is adsorbed by the adsorption hole 421 of the second area A2, and the second surface faces the outside.

Then, when the lozenge 9 reaches the first inspection position P3 below the first camera 50, the first camera 50 photographs the second side of the lozenge 9. In this way, the image data of the second side of the tablet 9 is acquired. The acquired image data is sent from the first camera 50 to the control unit 130. In addition, the control unit 130 performs a pre-printing inspection of the second side based on the image data received from the first camera 50 (step S9). Specifically, check the presence or absence of the tablet 9 on the adsorption hole 421, the front and back of the tablet 9, the rotation posture of the tablet 9 around the vertical axis, the positional deviation of the tablet 9 with respect to the adsorption hole 421, and the tablet The presence or absence of shape defects of 9 and so on.

Then, when the pastille 9 reaches the printing position below the printing section 60, the four nozzles 61 eject ink droplets toward the second surface of the pastille 9. In this way, the printing process is performed on the second side of the tablet 9. As a result, an image is printed on the second surface of the tablet 9 (step S10). At this time, the control unit 130 adjusts the image to be printed on each tablet 9 based on the inspection result of step S9 described above. For example, an appropriate image is selected according to the surface having the dividing line 140 or the surface on the opposite side thereof, and the selected image is rotated according to the rotation posture of each lozenge 9. Then, based on the adjusted image, a printing signal is input to the head 61. As a result, an appropriate image is printed in an appropriate posture on the second surface of each tablet 9.

Then, when the lozenge 9 reaches the second inspection position P4 below the second camera 70, the second camera 70 photographs the second side of the lozenge 9. In this way, the image data of the second side of the tablet 9 is acquired. The acquired image data is sent from the second camera 70 to the control unit 130. In addition, the control unit 130 performs a post-printing inspection of the second side based on the image data received from the second camera 70 (step S11). Specifically, the control unit 130 compares the image data received from the second camera 70 with the data of the normal image prepared in advance to determine whether the printing state of the second side of each lozenge 9 is good or bad, for example.

Then, when the tablet 9 reaches the vicinity of the drying mechanism 80, the drying mechanism 80 blows hot air toward the second surface of the tablet 9. Thereby, the ink adhering to the second surface of the tablet 9 is dried, and the ink is fixed on the second surface (step S12).

As described above, the control unit 130 functions as an inspection unit and a determination unit that inspects the tablet 9 based on each image captured by the first camera 50 and the second camera 70, and determines whether the printing state or shape of the tablet 9 is good or bad. effect. In addition, the control unit 130 determines for each tablet 9 whether it is a qualified product with a good printing state and no shape defects such as notches, or a defective product with poor printing or shape defects (step S13).

In the case where the tablet 9 is determined as a defective product by the control unit 130 (step S13=No (NO)), after that, when the tablet 9 determined as a defective product reaches the defective product discharge position P8, the adsorption Positive pressure is applied to the adsorption hole 421 of the adsorption conveyor 40 holding the tablet 9 to release the adsorption of the tablet 9 in the adsorption hole 421. Thereby, the lozenge 9 determined as a defective product is discharged to the defective product collection port 102 (step S14).

When the tablet 9 is determined to be a qualified product by the control unit 130 (step S13=YES), after that, when the tablet 9 determined to be a qualified product reaches the qualified product discharge position P9, the adsorption retains this A positive pressure is applied to the adsorption hole 421 of the adsorption conveyor 40 of the tablet 9 to release the adsorption of the tablet 9 in the adsorption hole 421. Thereby, the lozenge 9 judged to be a qualified product is discharged to the qualified product discharge port 114 (step S15). The plurality of tablets 9 dropped from the qualified product discharge port 114 onto the qualified product discharge conveyor 112 are carried out to the outside of the tablet printing apparatus 1 while being placed on the conveying belt 116.

After that, the control unit 130 determines whether or not to carry out the transportation and printing of all the tablets 9 of a predetermined number put into the tablet printing device 1, and discharge them to the tablets by the qualified product discharge mechanism 110 or the defective product recovery mechanism 100 The outside of the printing apparatus 1 (step S16). When it is determined that the processing of all the tablets 9 of the predetermined number is completed and they are discharged to the outside of the tablet printing apparatus 1 (step S16=YES), the control unit 130 operates the cleaning device 120 and is at the cleaning position P10 The cleaning operation of the suction belt 42 is performed (step S17). At this time, the control unit 130 rotates the suction belt 42 in a state where the tablets 9 are not held in all the suction holes 421, and at the same time continuously operates the cleaning device 120 to perform the cleaning operation of the suction belt 42. Thereby, it is possible to remove or reduce all the suction holes 421 provided on the endless suction belt 42 and the fine powder of the tablets 9 attached to the periphery of them. As a result, when a predetermined number of tablets 9 (for example, 1 batch=approximately 1 million) are re-inserted into the tablet printing device 1 for processing, the fine powder of the tablets 9 can be prevented from adversely affecting subsequent inspections.

＜4. Modifications＞ In the foregoing, one embodiment of the present invention has been described, but the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment.

In the above embodiment, all the tablets 9 of a predetermined number put into the tablet printing device 1 are transported and printed, and are discharged to the outside of the tablet printing device 1, and the tablets 9 are not kept in the state. The suction belt 42 is rotated downward, and the cleaning device 120 is operated to perform the cleaning operation of the suction belt 42 at the same time. However, it is also possible to operate the cleaning device 120 in parallel to perform the cleaning operation of the suction belt 42 while the plurality of tablets 9 are being transported or printed.

In this case, the cleaning device 120 may be arranged, for example, in the vicinity of the first area A1 on the downstream side of the first inclined roller 91 to the sixth inclined roller 96 in the conveying direction. Then, at the cleaning position P11 (refer to FIG. 3) downstream of the first reversal position P5, the second reversal position P6, and the third reversal position P7 on the conveyance path, a pair of seventh air blowing mechanisms B7 The compressed air is blown to the outer peripheral surface 420 of the adsorption belt 42 and the fine powder of the tablet 9 blown away from the adsorption belt 42 is recovered by the recovery mechanism 121.

In addition, the cleaning device 120 may be arranged in the vicinity of the second area A2 on the downstream side of the non-defective product discharge mechanism 110 in the conveying direction. Then, at the cleaning position P12 (refer to FIG. 3) on the downstream side of the qualified product discharge mechanism 110 on the conveyance path, the compressed air is blown to the outer peripheral surface 420 of the adsorption belt 42 by a pair of seventh air blowing mechanisms B7, and the recovery The mechanism 121 only needs to collect the fine powder of the tablet 9 blown away from the adsorption belt 42.

As shown in FIG. 3, the cleaning position P11 and the cleaning position P12 are opposed to the suction hole 421 where the tablet 9 is not held. Therefore, even when the cleaning device 120 is operated in parallel during the conveyance process or printing process of a plurality of tablets 9, the influence of compressed air or fine powder contact with the tablets 9 being processed can be suppressed.

In the above embodiment, the cleaning device 120 has two seventh air blowing mechanisms B7 and one recovery mechanism 121. However, the number of the seventh air blowing mechanism B7 and the recovery mechanism 121 included in the cleaning device 120 is not limited to this. For example, the cleaning device 120 may also have a seventh air blowing mechanism B7 and a recovery mechanism 121. Furthermore, for example, the recovery mechanism 121 may be arranged below the seventh air blowing mechanism B7. Furthermore, the compressed air may be blown to the outer peripheral surface 420 of the adsorption belt 42 by the upper seventh air blowing mechanism B7, and the fine powder of the tablet 9 blown away from the adsorption belt 42 may be recovered by the lower recovery mechanism 121.

Each of the first inclined roller 91 to the sixth inclined roller 96 of the above-described embodiment has a plurality of small holes, that is, suction holes. However, each of the first inclined roller 91 to the sixth inclined roller 96 may have an annular suction slit (not shown) on the side surface. For example, the first inclined roller 91 may also have an annular first suction slit centered on the first axis C1 on the first side surface 910. In addition, the second inclined roller 92 may also have an annular second suction slit centered on the second axis C2 on the second side surface 920. In addition, a plurality of tablets 9 may be adsorbed and held in these adsorption slits. In this way, the tablet 9 can be sucked and held at any position of the sucking slit. Therefore, when the tablet 9 is transferred, even if the tablet 9 is slightly shifted in position, the tablet 9 can be adsorbed and held.

In the above-mentioned embodiment, each of the first inclined roller 91 to the sixth inclined roller 96 has a conical side surface. However, the shape of the side surfaces of the first inclined roller 91 to the sixth inclined roller 96 may be a polygonal pyramid shape such as a quadrangular pyramid, a hexagonal pyramid, or an octagonal pyramid.

In addition, in the above-described embodiment, four heads 61 are provided in the printing unit 60. However, the number of nozzles 61 included in the printing unit 60 may be 1 to 3, or may be more than 4.

In addition, the tablet printing apparatus 1 of the above-described embodiment and modification examples includes a printing unit 60 that performs printing processing on the front or back surface of the tablet 9 at the printing position on the conveying path based on the suction conveyor 40. However, the tablet printing device 1 may include other processing units such as a packaging device that packs the tablets 9. That is, in the above-mentioned embodiment and modification examples, "carrying a plurality of tablets and performing printing processing" is replaced with "carrying a plurality of tablets and performing a predetermined processing".

In addition, the configuration of the details in the device may be different from the drawings in this application. In addition, as long as there is no contradiction, each element appearing in the above-mentioned embodiment or modification may be appropriately combined.

1: Tablet printing device 9: lozenge 10: Feeder 20: Handling conveyor 21, 41: Pulley 22: Carrying belt 30: Adsorption roller 31: fixed roller 32: movable roller 40: Adsorption conveyor 42: Adsorption zone 44: The second suction mechanism 50: The first camera 60: Printing Department 61: Nozzle 70: second camera 71: Linear nozzle 72: Air hose 73: Air supply source 74: On-off valve 80: Drying mechanism 81: Main piping 82: Vacuum pump 83: filter 90: Reversal mechanism 91: The first tilt roller 92: The second tilting roller 93: Third Tilt Roller 94: Fourth Tilt Roller 95: Fifth Tilt Roller 96: Sixth Tilt Roller 100: Non-conforming product recycling agency 101: unqualified product chute 102: Unqualified product recovery port 110: Qualified product discharge mechanism 111: Qualified product chute 112: Qualified product discharge conveyor 113: cover 114: Qualified product discharge 115: belt wheel 116: Carrying Belt 120: Cleaning device 121: Recycling Agency 130: Control Department 131: Processor 132: Memory 133: Storage Department 140: dividing line 301: Drum suction hole 302: The first suction mechanism 420: Outer peripheral surface (outer surface) 421: Adsorption hole 611: Nozzle 710: Blow Out 810: suction port 910: first side 911: The first reversal suction hole 920: second side 921: The second reversal adsorption hole A1: The first area A2: The second area B1: The first air supply mechanism B2: The second air supply mechanism B3: The third air supply mechanism B4: The fourth air supply mechanism B5: Fifth air supply mechanism B6: The sixth air supply mechanism B7: The seventh air supply mechanism C1: first axis C2: second axis CP: computer program M1～M4, 91M～96M: Motor O: Rotation axis P1: The first handover position P2: Second handover position P3: The first inspection position P4: Second inspection position P5: The first reversal position P6: Second reversal position P7: Third reversal position P8: Discharge position of unqualified products P9: Qualified product discharge position P10, P11, P12: cleaning position R1: Internal space R2: Space V1, V2: hollow arrow W1: first position W2: second position W3: third position W4: Fourth position W5: fifth position W6: sixth position S1～S17: steps

Fig. 1 is a side view of the tablet printing device. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the tablet printing device. Figure 3 is a bottom view of the lozenge printing device. Fig. 4 is a partial side view of the vicinity of the suction roller of the tablet printing device. Fig. 5 is a partial perspective view of the suction conveyor. Figure 6 is a bottom view of the spray head. Fig. 7 is a view of the suction conveyor and the reversing mechanism viewed from the direction of the hollow arrow V1 in Fig. 1. FIG. 8 is a diagram of the suction conveyor, the defective product recovery mechanism, and the qualified product discharge mechanism viewed from the direction of the hollow arrow V2 in FIG. 2. Fig. 9 is a block diagram showing the connection between the control unit and each unit. Fig. 10 is a partial perspective view of the cleaning device and the suction conveyor. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing the result of verifying the effect of cleaning the suction belt using the cleaning device. FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing in the tablet printing apparatus. Figure 13 is a perspective view of a lozenge.

30: Adsorption roller

40: Adsorption conveyor

42: Adsorption zone

71: Linear nozzle

72: Air hose

81: Main piping

82: Vacuum pump

83: filter

120: Cleaning device

121: Recycling Agency

420: Outer peripheral surface (outer surface)

421: Adsorption hole

710: Blow Out

810: suction port

A1: The first area

A2: The second area

B7: The seventh air supply mechanism

P2: Second handover position

P10: Cleaning position

Claims (8)

A conveying and processing device that conveys a plurality of granular materials and performs prescribed processing, which includes: The adsorption belt includes a plurality of adsorption holes on the outer surface, so that negative pressure is applied to the adsorption holes to adsorb and hold the particulate matter while conveying it along a prescribed conveyance path; and A cleaning device to clean the adsorption belt, and The cleaning device includes: An air blowing mechanism for blowing compressed air to the outer surface of the adsorption belt; and The recovery mechanism recovers the fine powder of the granular material blown away from the outer surface by blowing compressed air to the outer surface. The handling device according to claim 1, wherein the air supply mechanism includes: The linear nozzle includes a blowing port arranged at a position opposite to the plurality of suction holes; and An air hose that supplies compressed air to the linear nozzle, and The recovery mechanism includes a vacuum pump, The vacuum pump sucks gas from the suction port opposite to the adsorption belt. The handling device according to claim 1, wherein the cleaning device includes: A pair of the air blowing mechanism blowing compressed air to the same cleaning position on the conveying path; and The recovery mechanism is located between the pair of air blowing mechanisms and sucks gas from the suction port facing the adsorption belt. The handling device according to claim 1 or claim 2, which further includes: A camera, at an inspection position on the conveying path, photographing the granular material conveyed by the suction belt; and The inspection unit inspects the particulate matter based on the image taken by the camera, and The air blowing mechanism blows compressed air to the outer surface of the suction belt at a cleaning position on the conveying path that is on the upstream side of the inspection position. The handling device according to claim 1 or claim 2, which includes: The suction conveyor includes a pair of pulleys that respectively rotate around a shaft extending in the width direction and the endless suction belt erected between the pair of pulleys; and The suction drum, the outer peripheral part rotates around the axis extending in the width direction as the center, and Regarding the adsorption roller, The outer peripheral portion includes a plurality of roller suction holes for adsorbing and holding the granular material one by one, and the granular material is adsorbed and held in the roller suction hole while rotating and conveyed along the conveying path Then, at the transfer position on the conveying path, by applying a positive pressure to the roller adsorption hole, the granular material is transferred to the adsorption conveyor, The air blowing mechanism blows compressed air to the outer surface of the suction belt at a cleaning position on the downstream side of the transfer position on the conveyance path. The handling device according to claim 1 or claim 2, which further includes: The first inclined roller includes a conical or pyramid-shaped first side surface centered on a first axis inclined with respect to the width direction of the conveying path; and The second inclined roller is adjacent to the first inclined roller in the width direction and includes a conical or pyramidal second side surface centered on a second axis inclined with respect to the width direction, and The first inclined roller includes, on the first side surface, a plurality of first inverted suction holes arranged in a ring shape with the first shaft as the center, or a ring shape with the first shaft as the center. The first suction slit, The second inclined roller includes, on the second side surface, a plurality of second reversal suction holes arranged in a ring shape with the second shaft as the center, or a ring shape with the second shaft as the center. The second suction slit, The first inclined roller is rotated at the inverted position on the conveying path while adsorbing and holding the granular material transferred from the suction belt on the first side surface, and then adsorbs and holds the granular material. Positive pressure is applied to the first reversal adsorption hole or the first adsorption slit of the object to release the adsorption of the particulate matter in the first reversal adsorption hole or the first adsorption slit , Thereby transferring the granular material to the second inclined drum, After the second inclined drum is rotated while adsorbing and holding the granular material transferred from the first inclined drum on the second side surface, the second inverted reversal of the suction and holding of the granular material Positive pressure is applied to the adsorption hole or the second adsorption slit to release the adsorption of the particulate matter in the second reversal adsorption hole or the second adsorption slit, thereby transferring the particulate matter To the adsorption belt, thereby inverting the front and back of the granular material, The air blowing mechanism blows compressed air to the outer surface of the suction belt at a cleaning position on the downstream side of the reversal position on the conveying path. The conveyance processing device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein in the Munsell color system, the lightness of the particulate matter is greater than the lightness of the outer surface of the adsorption belt. The handling device according to any one of claim 1 to claim 3, wherein the granular material is a lozenge or lozenge other than a coated tablet, a sugar-coated tablet, and a capsule tablet.

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