TWI659492B - Carrier apparatus, printing apparatus, and carrier method - Google Patents

Abstract

An object of the present invention is to provide a technique for supplying granular materials to a holding portion with good timing without causing breakage.

This conveying device conveys the tablets along a conveying path having an arc-shaped conveying path directed diagonally downward. The conveyance device includes a conveyance roller, a supply feeder, a tablet sensor, a drop stop mechanism, and a control unit. A plurality of holding portions are provided on the outer surface of the conveying drum and are arranged at equal intervals along the conveying path to hold the tablets. The drop stop mechanism prevents the tablet in the feeder from falling. The tablet sensor is in the feeding feeder, and detects the tablet at a position higher than the drop stop mechanism. When the tablet sensor does not detect the tablet in a predetermined time, the control unit uses the drop blocking mechanism to prevent the tablet 9 from falling.

Description

Conveying device, printing device, and conveying method

The present invention relates to a conveying device for conveying granules such as pastilles or molded cakes, a printing device and a conveying method for printing the surface of the granules conveyed by the conveying device.

Ink tablets or molded cakes (hereinafter referred to as "granules") are sometimes printed with inkjet printing devices to print text, codes, marks, or illustrations. The printing device performs the printing process by ejecting ink from the inkjet head while conveying the particulate matter by the conveying mechanism. Regarding this conveying mechanism, Patent Document 1 discloses a packaging device that fills a PTP (Press Through Pack) bag with granular materials (tablets or capsule tablets).

The packaging device described in Patent Document 1 rotates a roller having a groove (recess) on the outer peripheral surface, and drops granules toward the groove from a chute disposed on the upper portion of the roller. Then, in the lower part of the drum, the PTP bag is moved while facing the groove of the rotating drum, and the granules in the groove are supplied to the PTP bag. When the granular material is dropped from the chute to the groove, the granular material is held by the stopper to stop the falling of the granular material. Then, if the groove of the rotating drum is located directly below the chute, the stopper is released and the granules are dropped. In this way, the particulate matter can be dropped into the groove in a good timing.

    [Prior technical literature]         [Patent Literature]    

[Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-85519

However, in Patent Document 1, when the granular material cannot be held by the stopper, the granular material cannot be dropped to the groove in a good timing. In addition, since the granular material must be held by a stopper every time the granular material is dropped, a regular operation is required. Further, in Patent Document 1, the granular material is held against the wall surface by a stopper. Therefore, there is a possibility that the timing difference causes the stopper to hit the end of the granular object, and the granular object may be damaged.

The present invention has been made in view of such facts, and an object thereof is to provide a conveying device that supplies granules to a holding portion with good timing without causing breakage, and a printing device and a conveying method including the same.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the first invention of the present invention is a conveying device for conveying granular material along a conveying path, wherein the conveying path has a conveying path that is arc-shaped toward an obliquely downward direction, and the conveying device includes a holding section, It is arranged at equal intervals along the conveying path to hold the granules; a moving part moves the holding part along the arc-shaped conveying path; a feeder drops the granules To the above-mentioned arc-shaped conveying path; a stopper that prevents the granules in the feeder from falling; a detection unit in the feeder that is above the stopper Position to detect the granules; and a stopper control unit that drives the stopper to stop the granules when the detection unit does not detect the granules within a predetermined time. Fall.

The second invention of the present case is the conveying device of the first invention, wherein the moving portion is a roller, and the holding portion is formed on an outer peripheral surface of the roller to receive the concave portion of the granular material.

The third invention of the present case is the conveying device of the second invention, wherein the pellet-type lozenge, the feeder causes the pellet to fall in a radial direction consistent with the dropping direction, and the concave portion makes The granular material accommodates the granular material in the radial direction and the conveyance direction.

The fourth invention of the present case is the conveying device of the first to third inventions, wherein the stopper has a blocking member that protrudes into the feeder and narrows the inside of the feeder downward.

The fifth invention of the present case is the conveying device of the fourth invention, wherein the stopper swings the stopper member in a pendulum shape in an obliquely upward direction so as to protrude into the feeder.

The sixth invention of the present case is the conveying device of the first invention, wherein when the stopper control unit has prevented the falling of the particulate matter by using the stopper, if the detection unit detects the predetermined time continuously The granular matter releases the above-mentioned drop prevention.

A seventh invention of the present case is a printing device having the conveying device of the first invention; and a printing unit that ejects ink droplets onto the surface of the granular material conveyed by the conveying device.

The eighth invention of the present application is a conveying method for holding the granules by holding portions arranged at equal intervals along the conveying path, and conveying the granules along the conveying path, wherein The object is dropped into the feeder with a circular arc-shaped conveying path toward the obliquely downward direction, and is located above the stopper that prevents the granules in the feeder from falling, and the detection unit detects the above The granules are detected, and when the detection unit does not detect the granules within a predetermined time, the stopper is driven to prevent the granules from falling.

According to the first invention to the eighth invention of the present invention, the granular matter dropped from the feeder to the conveying path is held by the holding portion directly below the feeder at the timing of the dropping. In the case where the above operations are continuously performed, if there is a deviation in the falling timing of the particles, if the amount of movement of the holding portion is not controlled, the holding portion cannot hold the particles from the feeder. Therefore, if the detection unit does not detect the granular material in the feeder within a predetermined time, it is considered that there is a deviation in the drop timing to prevent the granular material in the feeder from falling. Thereby, the granular material is not supplied from the feeder toward the conveyance path, and the possibility that the granular material cannot be held by the holding portion can be suppressed. Furthermore, it is possible to suppress the possibility that the particulate matter that cannot be held by the holding portion may fall or be sandwiched between the conveyed parts and may be damaged.

In particular, according to the second invention, when the granular matter from the feeder is dropped to the recessed portion, the disadvantage that only a part of the granular matter is accommodated in the recessed portion can be avoided. If only a part of the granular material is accommodated in the concave portion, a portion of the granular material beyond the concave portion may be sandwiched between parts in the middle of the transport path, and the granular material may be damaged. That is, by avoiding a state in which the particulate matter is not correctly accommodated in the recessed portion, damage to the particulate matter can be avoided.

In particular, according to the fourth invention, by gradually narrowing the inside of the feeder, falling of the particulate matter can be prevented. In this case, it is possible to suppress the possibility of damage to the granular material caused by preventing the impact on the granular material during dropping.

In particular, according to the fifth invention, by preventing the blocking member from falling downwardly against the falling particulate matter, it is possible to suppress the possibility that the particulate matter is caught between the blocking member and the inner wall of the feeder and damaged.

In particular, according to the sixth invention, since the conveyance of the particulate matter is automatically restarted, the man-hours for the operator can be saved.

1‧‧‧Printing Device

9, 9A, 9B‧‧‧ lozenges

10‧‧‧Control Department

20‧‧‧ Supply agency

21‧‧‧ Hopper

22‧‧‧Straight Feeder

23‧‧‧Rotary feeder

24‧‧‧Supply feeder

30‧‧‧ transfer agency

31‧‧‧ transporting roller

32‧‧‧The first conveying belt

33‧‧‧The second conveying belt

34‧‧‧ Removed from the conveyor

40‧‧‧Printing Department

41‧‧‧The first printing department

42‧‧‧The second printing department

50‧‧‧ inspection agency

51‧‧‧The first visual inspection camera

52‧‧‧The second visual inspection camera

53‧‧‧The first printing inspection camera

54‧‧‧3rd appearance inspection camera

55‧‧‧ 2nd printing inspection camera

56‧‧‧Defective Product Recycling Department

61‧‧‧pulley

62‧‧‧Conveyor belt

71‧‧‧ lozenge sensor

72‧‧‧fall stop mechanism

91‧‧‧ lozenges

100‧‧‧Frame

101‧‧‧Operation Processing Department

102‧‧‧Memory

103‧‧‧Storage Department

211‧‧‧ opening

212‧‧‧inclined

221‧‧‧Vibration groove

231‧‧‧Turntable

241‧‧‧Hollow

242, 243, 312, 621‧‧‧ through holes

310, 310A, 310B, 310C, 620‧‧‧

311‧‧‧outer surface

341‧‧‧Chute

400‧‧‧ head

410‧‧‧Head unit

561‧‧‧Recycling bin

721‧‧‧ Tablet receiving department

721A‧‧‧face

722‧‧‧Support Department

722A‧‧‧Rotating shaft

723‧‧‧Driver

723A‧‧‧Shaft

723B‧‧‧Driver body

D‧‧‧ Information

D1‧‧‧thickness

D2‧‧‧Width

P‧‧‧Computer Program

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view including a part of a supply feeder, a part of a conveying roller, and a part of a first conveying belt.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the connection between the control section and each section in the printing apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a partial cross-sectional view schematically showing a feeder and a transporting drum.

Figure 5 is a top view of a lozenge sensor.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining the configuration of the drop stop mechanism.

FIG. 7A is a partial cross-sectional view schematically showing a supply feeder and a transfer drum.

FIG. 7B is a partial cross-sectional view schematically showing a feeder and a transporting drum.

FIG. 8 is a partial cross-sectional view schematically showing a supply feeder and a transfer drum.

FIG. 9A is a partial cross-sectional view schematically showing a supply feeder and a transfer drum.

FIG. 9B is a partial cross-sectional view schematically showing a supply feeder and a transfer drum.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a process when a drop stop mechanism is used to prevent dropping of tablets.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following description, a direction in which a plurality of granular materials are conveyed is referred to as a "conveying direction", and a direction perpendicular to and horizontal to the conveying direction is referred to as a "width direction". The direction in which the width direction is perpendicular is called "height direction".

    <1. Configuration of Printing Device>    

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a printing apparatus 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. This printing device 1 is a device that prints tablets 9 while conveying a plurality of tablets 9 as medicines along a transport path. The lozenges 9 have, for example, a circular disc shape or a lens shape in plan view. The printing device 1 prints an image of a product name, a product code, a company name, or a brand logo on the surface of a circular portion of the tablet 9. The tablet 9 may be an uncoated tablet (bare tablet) or a coated tablet such as a film-coated tablet (FC tablet). Lozenge 9 may also be a capsule containing hard capsules and soft capsules. Moreover, in the present invention, the granular material to be transported is not limited to a lozenge, and may be a molded snack such as fizzy sugar.

The printing apparatus 1 includes a supply mechanism 20, a conveyance mechanism 30, a printing unit 40, an inspection mechanism 50, and a control unit 10.

The supply mechanism 20 transfers the tablets 9 which are put into the apparatus to the transfer mechanism 30. The supply mechanism 20 includes a hopper 21, a straight-feed feeder 22, a rotary feeder 23, and a supply feeder 24.

The hopper 21 receives most of the tablets 9 into the device at one time. The hopper 21 is arranged at the uppermost part of the frame 100 of the printing apparatus 1. The hopper 21 has an opening portion 211 located on the upper surface of the housing 100 and a funnel-shaped inclined surface 212 that gradually shrinks as it goes downward. The plurality of tablets 9 injected toward the opening portion 211 slide on the inclined surface 212 and flow into the straight feeder 22.

The straight-feed feeder 22, the rotary feeder 23, and the supply feeder 24 are mechanisms for transferring a plurality of tablets 9 put into the hopper 21 to a transfer mechanism 30. The straight-feed feeder 22 has a flat-shaped vibration groove 221. The plurality of lozenges 9 supplied from the hopper 21 to the vibration groove 221 are conveyed to the rotary feeder 23 by the vibration of the vibration groove 221.

The rotary feeder 23 includes a disc-shaped rotary table 231. The plurality of lozenges 9 dropped from the vibration groove 221 to the upper surface of the rotary table 231 are gathered toward the outer periphery of the rotary table 231 by the centrifugal force generated by the rotation of the rotary table 231.

The supply feeder 24 supplies the tablets 91 one at a time to a plurality of holding portions 310 (see FIG. 2) of the transfer roller 31 provided in the transfer mechanism 30 described later. The supply feeder 24 is an example of the "feeder" of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view including a part of the supply feeder 24, a part of the transfer drum 31, and a part of the first transfer conveyor 32. FIG. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the supply feeder 24 extends vertically from the outer peripheral portion of the rotary table 231 to the transfer drum 31 of the transfer mechanism 30. Inside the supply feeder 24, a plurality of (eight in the example of FIG. 2) hollow portions 241 extending in the vertical direction are provided. The plurality of lozenges 9 that are transported toward the outer peripheral portion of the turntable 231 are supplied to any one of the plurality of hollow portions 241, and fall within the hollow portions 241. As described above, the plurality of tablets 9 are distributed and supplied to the plurality of hollow portions 241 to be aligned in a plurality of transport rows. Then, the plurality of tablets 9 in each conveyance line are supplied to the conveyance roller 31 in the order of dropping.

The supply feeder 24 is provided with a tablet sensor 71 and a drop stop mechanism 72. The tablet sensor 71 and the drop stop mechanism 72 stop the supply of the tablet 9 when there is a possibility that the tablet 9 is being fed from the supply feeder 24 toward the transfer drum 31 in good time. These will be detailed later.

As shown in Fig. 1, the conveyance mechanism 30 includes a conveyance roller 31, a first conveyance conveyor 32, a second conveyance conveyor 33, and an ejection conveyor 34.

The transfer drum 31 transfers the plurality of tablets 9 from the supply feeder 24 to the first transfer conveyor 32. The conveyance roller 31 has a substantially cylindrical roller-shaped outer surface 311. The conveyance roller 31 rotates in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 with the power obtained from a motor (not shown) centered on a rotation axis extending in the width direction.

As shown in FIG. 2, a plurality of holding portions 310 are provided on the outer surface 311 at substantially equal intervals in the conveying direction and the width direction. The plurality of holding portions 310 are arranged on the outer surface 311 in the width direction at the same interval as the plurality of hollow portions 241 of the feeder 24. The holding portion 310 is a recessed portion that is recessed from the outer surface 311 toward the inside of the transfer drum 31. A through hole 312 is provided at the bottom of the holding portion 310. A suction mechanism (not shown) is provided inside the transfer drum 31. When the suction mechanism is operated, negative pressures below atmospheric pressure are generated in the plurality of holding portions 310 located on the downstream side of the supply feeder 24 through the through holes 312. The holding unit 310 sucks and holds the tablets 9 supplied from the supply feeder 24 one at a time by the negative pressure.

Then, a positive pressure higher than the atmospheric pressure is applied to the holding portion 310 which is moved to the position opposed to the first conveyance belt 32 on the conveyance roller 31 to release the adsorption of the tablet 9. In this way, the conveyance roller 31 rotates while sucking and holding the plurality of tablets 9 supplied from the supply feeder 24, and transfers the tablets 9 to the first conveyance conveyor 32. When the tablets 9 are transferred from the conveying roller 31 to the first conveying belt 32, the surface of the tablets 9 adsorbed and held by the conveying roller 31 is different from the surface of the tablets 9 adsorbed and held by the first conveying belt 32. Therefore, the front and back of the tablet 9 are reversed during the period when the tablet 9 is held on the transfer drum 31 and during the period when the tablet 9 is held on the first transfer conveyor 32.

The first transfer conveyor 32 includes a pair of pulleys 61, a transfer belt 62, and a suction mechanism (not shown). The conveying belt 62 is stretched between the pair of pulleys 61 in an endless manner. The conveyance belt 62 is arranged so that a part of the conveyance belt 62 approaches and faces the outer peripheral surface of the conveyance roller 31. One of the pair of pulleys 61 is rotated by power obtained from a motor (not shown). Thereby, the conveyance belt 62 rotates in the direction of the arrow of FIG. 1 and FIG. 2. At this time, the other of the pair of pulleys 61 is driven to rotate with the rotation of the conveyance belt 62.

As shown in FIG. 2, a plurality of holding portions 620 are provided on the outer surface of the conveyance belt 62 at substantially equal intervals in the conveyance direction and the width direction. The holding portion 620 moves while facing the holding portion 310 of the conveyance roller 31. The holding portion 620 of the conveying belt 62 is a recessed portion provided on the outer surface of the conveying belt 62 similarly to the holding portion 310 of the conveying roller 31, and a through hole 621 is provided at the bottom thereof. The plurality of holding portions 620 of the conveyance belt 62 are arranged in the conveyance direction at positions in the width direction corresponding to the plurality of conveyance rows, respectively. The intervals in the conveying direction and the width direction of the plurality of holding portions 620 of the conveying belt 62 are equal to the intervals in the conveying direction and the width direction of the plurality of holding portions 310 of the conveying roller 31.

The first conveyance belt 32 has a suction mechanism (not shown) similarly to the conveyance roller 31. The suction mechanism generates a negative pressure in the space inside the pulley 61 and the conveying belt 62. When the suction mechanism is operated, negative pressures lower than atmospheric pressure are generated in the plurality of holding portions 620 through the through holes 621, respectively. The holding unit 620 sucks and holds the tablets 9 transferred from the conveyance drum 31 one at a time by the negative pressure. Thereby, the first conveyance conveyor 32 applies negative pressure to the plurality of holding portions 620, and conveys the plurality of tablets 9 while being neatly arranged in the conveying direction and the width direction while being sucked and held. In this way, the conveyance belt 62 can function as a holding portion that holds the tablets 9.

A positive pressure higher than the atmospheric pressure is applied to the holding portion 620 on the first conveyance conveyor 32 to move to a position facing the second conveyance conveyor 33, and the adsorption of the tablet 9 is released. As a result, the first transfer conveyor 32 supplies the tablets 9 to the second transfer conveyor 33. When the tablets 9 are to be transferred from the first conveying belt 32 to the second conveying belt 33, the surfaces of the tablets 9 adsorbed and held by the first conveying belt 32 and the tablets held and adsorbed by the second conveying belt 33 Agent 9 is different. Therefore, the pros and cons of the tablet 9 are reversed while being held on the first conveying conveyor 32 and while being held on the second conveying conveyor 33.

The configuration of the second transfer conveyor 33 is substantially the same as that of the first transfer conveyor 32. The second conveyance belt 33 includes a pair of pulleys 61, a conveyance belt 62, and a suction mechanism (not shown) similarly to the first conveyance belt 32. The configuration of the second transporting belt 33 that is the same as the configuration of the first transporting belt 32 is omitted.

A chute 341 is provided below the second transporting conveyor 33 to connect the second transporting conveyor 33 and the unloading conveyor 34. A positive pressure higher than the atmospheric pressure is applied to the holding portion 620 moving on the second conveying conveyor 33 to a position facing the chute 341 to release the adsorption of the tablet 9. Thereby, the second conveyance conveyor 33 drops the tablet 9 into the chute 341. As a result, the tablets 9 are transferred from the second transfer conveyor 33 to the unload conveyor 34 via the chute 341.

The unloading conveyor 34 unloads the plurality of tablets 9 after printing toward the outside of the frame 100 of the printing apparatus 1. The upstream end of the unloading conveyor 34 is located below the chute 341. An end portion on the downstream side of the carry-out conveyor 34 is located outside the housing 100. An end portion on the downstream side of the unloading conveyor 34 is connected to, for example, a packaging device for packaging the tablet 9 after the printing process. The unloading conveyor 34 uses, for example, a belt transfer mechanism. The plurality of tablets 9 transferred from the second transfer conveyor 33 to the unload conveyor 34 are carried out toward the outside of the casing 100 by the unload conveyor 34.

In this way, the supply mechanism 20 and the transfer mechanism 30 constitute a transfer device for transferring the tablets 9.

As shown in FIG. 1, the printing section 40 includes a first printing section 41 and a second printing section 42.

The first printing section 41 prints an image on the surface of the tablet 9 side. As shown in FIG. 1, the first printing unit 41 includes a head unit 410 having four heads 400. The four heads 400 respectively use inkjet methods to direct ink droplets to the conveying mechanism 30. The surface of the conveyed tablet 9 is discharged and subjected to a printing process. The four heads 400 eject ink droplets of different colors (for example, cyan, magenta, yellow, and black). A multi-color image is recorded on the surface of the tablet 9 by superimposing a monochrome image formed by the respective colors. In addition, the ink ejected from each head 400 is an edible ink manufactured using a raw material calibrated by the Food Sanitation Law.

Although not shown, a plurality of nozzles capable of ejecting ink droplets are provided on the lower surface of the head 400. In this embodiment, a plurality of nozzles are arranged two-dimensionally in the conveying direction and the width direction on the lower surface of the head 400. The nozzles are arranged at positions shifted in the width direction. In this way, if a plurality of nozzles are arranged in a two-dimensional manner, the positions in the width direction of each nozzle can be made close to each other. However, a plurality of nozzles may be arranged in a row along the width direction.

A method of discharging ink droplets from a nozzle is, for example, a so-called piezoelectric method in which a voltage is applied to a piezoelectric element (piezoelectric element) as a piezoelectric device to deform the ink, thereby pressurizing ink in the nozzle to discharge the ink. In addition, the ink droplet discharge method may be a so-called thermal type in which the ink in the nozzle is heated and expanded by energizing the heater.

The second printing unit 42 prints an image on the other side of the tablet 9. Since the configuration of the second printing section 42 is the same as that of the first printing section 41, description thereof is omitted.

The inspection mechanism 50 includes a first appearance inspection camera 51, a second appearance inspection camera 52, a first print inspection camera 53, a third appearance inspection camera 54, a second print inspection camera 55, and a defective product recovery unit 56.

The first appearance inspection camera 51 captures the surface of the other side of the tablet 9 conveyed by the conveyance roller 31. The second visual inspection camera 52 captures the surface of the tablet 9 on the upstream side of the first printing section 41 on the side of the tablet 9 conveyed by the first conveying belt 32. The photographed images obtained by the first appearance inspection camera 51 and the second appearance inspection camera 52 are input to the control unit 10. The control unit 10 detects the presence or absence of the tablet 9 in each of the holding units 310 and 620, the presence or absence of a bad shape of each tablet 9 and the direction of each tablet 9 based on the obtained photographed images.

The first printing inspection camera 53 captures the surface of the tablet 9 on the downstream side of the first printing section 41 on the tablet 9 conveyed by the first conveying belt 32. The photographed image obtained by the first print inspection camera 53 is input to the control unit 10. The control unit 10 detects the presence or absence of a defect in the printing process by the first printing unit 41 based on the obtained photographed image.

The third visual inspection camera 54 captures the surface of the other side of the tablet 9 conveyed by the second conveyance belt 33 on the upstream side of the second printing section 42. The photographed image obtained by the third appearance inspection camera 54 is input to the control unit 10. The control unit 10 detects the presence or absence of the tablets 9 in each of the holding portions 620 of the second conveying belt 33, the presence or absence of the shape of each tablet 9, and the direction of each tablet 9 based on the obtained photographed image.

The second print inspection camera 55 captures the surface of the other side of the tablet 9 conveyed by the second conveyance conveyor 33 on the downstream side of the second printing section 42. The photographed image obtained by the second print inspection camera 55 is input to the control unit 10. The control unit 10 detects the presence or absence of a defect in the printing process by the second printing unit 42 based on the obtained photographed image.

The defective product recovery unit 56 collects the tablets 9 judged to be defective in shape and the tablets 9 judged to be defective in printing based on the photographic images obtained by the five cameras 51 to 55 described above. The defective product recovery unit 56 includes a pressurizing mechanism (not shown) and a recovery box 561. The pressurizing mechanism blows the pressurized gas locally from the inside of the second conveying belt 33 to the holding portion 620 holding the tablet 9 that has been detected to be defective to release the tablet 9 from being adsorbed. Thereby, the tablet 9 to which the defect was detected is collect | recovered to the collection | recovery box 561.

The control unit 10 is a means for controlling operations of each unit in the printing apparatus 1. The control unit 10 is an example of the "stopper control unit" of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the connection between the control section 10 and each section in the printing apparatus 1. As shown schematically in FIG. 1, the control unit 10 is composed of an arithmetic processing unit 101 having a central processing unit (CPU; Central Processing Unit), etc., a memory 102 such as random access memory (RAM, Random Access Memory), etc. And a hard disk drive and the like. In the storage unit 103, a computer program P and data D for performing printing processing are stored.

As shown in FIG. 3, the control unit 10 is respectively connected to the straight feeder 22, the rotary feeder 23, the transfer drum 31 (including the motor and the suction mechanism), the first transfer conveyor 32 (including the motor and the suction mechanism), and the second Conveying belt 33 (including motor and suction mechanism), conveying belt 34, head 400 of first printing section 41 and second printing section 42, first appearance inspection camera 51, second appearance inspection camera 52, first The print inspection camera 53, the third visual inspection camera 54, the second print inspection camera 55, the defective product recovery unit 56, the tablet sensor 71, and the drop stop mechanism 72 are communicably connected.

The control unit 10 temporarily reads the computer program P and the data D stored in the storage unit 103 to the memory 102, and causes the arithmetic processing unit 101 to perform arithmetic processing according to the computer program P, thereby controlling the operations of the aforementioned units. . Thereby, a printing process for a plurality of tablets 9 is performed.

    <2. Configuration of supply feeder>    

Next, a detailed configuration of the supply feeder 24 will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 4. FIG. 4 is a partial cross-sectional view schematically showing the supply feeder 24 and the conveyance roller 31.

The tablet 9 is housed inside the cavity portion 241 of the supply feeder 24 extending in the vertical direction so that the longitudinal direction (radial direction) of the tablet 9 becomes the vertical direction. The supply feeder 24 is arranged above the arc-shaped portion that faces the obliquely downward direction in the circumferential direction from the highest position of the transfer drum 31. That is, the arcuate portion is used to transfer the tablets 9 from the supply feeder 24 toward the transfer drum 31.

The tablets 9 are supplied from the rotary table 231 toward the cavity 241. This tablet 9 is dropped along the hollow portion 241. The tablets 9 dropped to the lower end of the hollow portion 241 are held by collision and contact with the outer surface 311. In this state, if the tablets 9 are sequentially supplied from the rotary table 231 toward the cavity portion 241, the tablets 9 are gradually stacked on the tablets 9 held by the lower end of the cavity portion 241. Then, in the cavity portion 241, a plurality of lozenges 9 are held in a stacked state. The details will be described later, but the plurality of lozenges 9 held by the layers are sequentially housed in the holding portion 310 that is moved directly below the hollow portion 241 from the front end (bottom end). The plurality of lozenges 9 are held in the cavity portion 241 by being layered, and are discharged from the supply feeder 24 at a fixed timing. As a result, from the supply feeder 24 to the transfer drum 31, the delivery timing of the tablets 9 is performed well.

The supply feeder 24 is provided with a tablet sensor 71 and a drop stop mechanism 72. The tablet sensor 71 is disposed above the drop stop mechanism 72.

The tablet sensor 71 is a sensor for detecting the tablet 9 in the cavity 241. FIG. 5 is a top view of the tablet sensor 71. FIG. 4 corresponds to a cross section taken along the line IV-IV in FIG. 5. The tablet sensors 71 are provided for the hollow portions 241 (eight in this example). The tablet sensor 71 includes, for example, a light emitter that emits infrared rays and a light receiver that receives the infrared rays. The light emitter and the light receiver are arranged so as to face each other with the hollow portion 241 therebetween. The supply feeder 24 is provided with a through hole 242 and a through hole 243 through which infrared rays transmitted and received between the light emitter and the light receiver pass.

In this configuration, as shown in FIG. 4, if the tablet 9 is laminated to the positions of the through holes 242 and 243 in the cavity 241, the infrared rays from the light emitter of the tablet sensor 71 will be tablet 9. Be sheltered. Therefore, the light receiver of the tablet sensor 71 cannot receive infrared rays from the light emitter. On the other hand, if the tablet 9 is not stacked and held in the cavity portion 241, the light receiver of the tablet sensor 71 receives infrared rays from the light emitter. That is, the control unit 10 can detect whether or not the tablet 9 is stacked and held in the cavity portion 241 according to whether or not the photoreceptor of the tablet sensor 71 receives infrared rays.

The drop stop mechanism 72 prevents the tablet 9 from falling out of the hollow portion 241. FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining the structure of the drop stop mechanism 72. One drop stop mechanism 72 is provided for each of a plurality of (eight in this example) cavity portions 241.

The drop stop mechanism 72 includes a tablet receiving portion 721, a support portion 722, and a driving portion 723. The support portion 722 has a shape of a long column or corner column in a direction, and is swingably supported around the rotation shaft portion 722A. A tablet receiving portion 721 is provided at a first end of the supporting portion 722. A driving portion 723 is provided at the second end of the supporting portion 722.

The driving unit 723 uses, for example, a cylinder. The driving portion 723 projects the shaft portion 723A with respect to the driving portion body 723B by the air pressure supplied with the presence or absence of energization. The shaft portion 723A moves in a direction orthogonal to the hollow portion 241 extending in the vertical direction. An end portion of the shaft portion 723A is connected to a second end of the support portion 722. The driving portion 723 projects the shaft portion 723A from the driving portion body 723B, and moves the second end of the supporting portion 722 toward the supply feeder 24 side. Thereby, the tablet receiving part 721 provided in the 1st end of the support part 722 moves to the side opposite to the supply feeder 24. In addition, the drive portion 723 projects the shaft portion 723A toward the drive portion body 723B to move the second end of the support portion 722 toward the side opposite to the supply feeder 24. Thereby, the tablet receiving part 721 provided in the 1st end of the support part 722 moves toward the supply feeder 24 side. In this way, the tablet receiving portion 721 provided at the first end of the support portion 722 swings in a pendulum shape around the rotation shaft portion 722A. The tablet receiving portion 721 is an example of the "blocking member" of the present invention. The driving unit 723 may use a driving mechanism other than a cylinder.

The tablet receiving portion 721 swings by the support portion 722, and moves back and forth between the standby position outside the hollow portion 241 (the broken line state in FIG. 6) and a protruding position protruding partially to the inside (the solid line state in FIG. 6). A through hole 244 is provided in the supply feeder 24 so that the tablet receiving portion 721 can reciprocate between the standby position and the protruding position. The tablet receiving portion 721 has, for example, a rectangular parallelepiped shape. When the tablet receiving portion 721 is located at the protruding position, one end surface 721A of the tablet receiving portion 721 intersects the vertical direction of the cavity portion 241. That is, the width of the cavity portion 241 gradually narrows downward. However, the relationship between the thickness D1 of the thickness direction (direction orthogonal to the length direction) of the tablet 9 and the narrowest width D2 of the cavity portion 241 when the tablet receiving portion 721 is located at the protruding position is D1> D2.

In this way, the tablet 9 is held by one end surface 721A of the tablet receiving portion 721 which is inclined with respect to the dropping direction, and the dropping is prevented. In this case, the impact of the dropped tablet 9 from one end surface 721A is smaller than the impact when the tablet 9 is dropped to a flat surface. Therefore, the impact at the time of dropping can be mitigated and the breakage of the tablet 9 can be suppressed.

In addition, since the tablet receiving portion 721 swings in a pendulum shape from the standby position to the obliquely upward direction and moves to the protruding position, the tablet receiving portion 721 can be brought into contact with the dropped tablet 9 from below. Thereby, when the drop of the tablet 9 is prevented, the possibility that the tablet 9 is sandwiched by the inner wall of the tablet receiving portion 721 and the cavity portion 241 can be suppressed, and the possibility of the tablet 9 being damaged can be suppressed. In addition, when the tablet receiving portion 721 is moved from the protruding position toward the standby position, the tablet receiving portion 721 moves obliquely downward with respect to the tablet 9 that is about to fall. That is, the tablet receiving portion 721 can move the tablet 19 toward the standby position along the movement (dropping) of the tablet 9. Thereby, for example, the possibility that the lozenge 9 is sandwiched between the lozenge receiving portion 721 and the inner wall of the supply feeder 24 and the lozenge 9 may be prevented from being damaged.

In addition, the drop stopper mechanism 72 is set to make the tablet receiving portion 721 protrude in a state where the driving portion 723 is not energized. That is, when the driving section 723 is not energized, the driving section 723 is in a state where the shaft section 723A protrudes into the driving section body 723B. When the drive section 723 is energized, the drive section 723 causes the shaft section 723A to protrude from the drive section body 723B. Thereby, when the printing apparatus 1 is not operated as a whole due to a power failure or a power failure, the tablet receiving portion 721 is moved to a protruding position to prevent the tablet 9 from falling.

    <3. About supply of tablets from the supply feeder toward the conveyance drum>    

Next, the supply of the tablets 9 from the supply feeder 24 to the transfer drum 31 will be described with reference to FIGS. 7A, 7B, 8, 9A, and 9B. 7A, 7B, 8, 9A, and 9B are partial cross-sectional views schematically showing the feeder 24 and the conveyance roller 31. 7A, 7B, 8, 9A, and 9B, illustrations of the tablet sensor 71 and the drop stop mechanism 72 are omitted.

7A, 7B, and 8 show a case where the tablets 9 are supplied from the supply feeder 24 toward the transfer drum 31 with good timing. FIG. 9A and FIG. 9B show a state in which the tablets 9 are supplied from the supply feeder 24 to the transfer drum 31 without good timing.

In the description of FIGS. 7A, 7B, and 8, the tablet 9 held at the lower end of the hollow portion 241 is referred to as a tablet 9A, and the tablet 9 layered thereon is referred to as a tablet 9B. . In addition, the holding portion 310 that stores the tablets 9A is referred to as a holding portion 310A. The holding portion 310 located further upstream than the holding portion 310A is referred to as a holding portion 310B, and the holding portion 310 located further downstream than the holding portion 310A is referred to as a holding portion 310C.

When the tablet 9A is surely contained in the holding portion 310A, as shown in FIG. 7A, the tablet 9A is held in a state where the tablet 9A contacts the outer surface 311 between the holding portion 310C and the holding portion 310A as shown in FIG. 7A. Cavity section 241. As described above, the outer surface 311 rotates in the circumferential direction. Therefore, the tablet 9A slides on the outer surface 311 while being held by the hollow portion 241. Then, if the holding portion 310A moves directly below the hollow portion 241, as shown in FIG. 7B, the contact portion of the tablet 9A with the outer surface 311 slides from the outer surface 311 toward the holding portion 310A. Then, the tablet 9A is poured from the holding posture of the cavity portion 241 (the posture in which the longitudinal direction becomes the vertical direction), and is stored in the holding portion 310A in the conveying posture. The conveyance posture refers to a posture in which the longitudinal direction of the tablet 9 and the circumferential direction of the conveyance drum 31 are consistent with each other.

In addition, if the outer surface 311 is rotated, as shown in FIG. 8, the tablet 9A is held and carried by the holding portion 310A, and the tablet 9B laminated on the tablet 9A is moved (dropped) to the hollow portion 241. The bottom. Then, the tablet 9B is held in the hollow portion 241 in a state where the tablet 9B comes into contact with the outer surface 311 between the holding portion 310A and the holding portion 310B. Thereafter, as described above, if the holding portion 310B is moved directly below the hollow portion 241, the tablets 9B are stored in the holding portion 310B in a transport posture.

By repeating this operation, the tablets 9 that are stacked and held in the supply feeder 24 are supplied to the transfer drum 31 one at a time. In this supply operation, since the plurality of tablets 9 are held by the stack of the supply feeder 24, they are supplied to the transfer drum 31 one at a time and periodically. In this case, if the lowermost tablet 9A of the hollow portion 241 is surely contained in the transfer posture, the tablet 9 stacked on it will be sequentially and surely contained in the transfer portion 310 to the holding portion 310. On the other hand, when the tablet 9 is not laminated in the hollow portion 241 due to clogging of the hollow portion 241 or the like, and the tablet 9 is dropped from the hollow portion 241 toward the conveying roller 31 indefinitely, the tablet 9 is not stored in The holding portion 310 may cause problems such as breakage. This case will be described below.

9A and 9B are diagrams for explaining a situation where the tablet 9 is damaged. In FIGS. 9A and 9B, the timing at which the tablet 9 supplied from the rotary table 231 to the hollow portion 241 falls to the lowermost end of the hollow portion 241, and the holding portion 310 is located directly below the hollow portion 241.

In this case, as shown in FIG. 9A, the tablet 9 is directly dropped from the hollow portion 241 to the holding portion 310 in a state of being held in the hollow portion 241. In this way, the tablet 9 also has a holding posture in the holding portion 310, and a part of the tablet 9 may protrude from the holding portion 310. In this state, if the outer surface 311 is rotated, as shown in FIG. 9B, a part of the protruding tablet 9 will be sandwiched between the wall surface of the feeder 24 and the holding portion 310, and the tablet 9 will exist. The possibility of breakage. Therefore, when the tablet 9 is not laminated and held in the cavity portion 241, the control unit 10 drives and controls the falling gear so that the tablet 9 falls to a position between the holding portion 310 and the holding portion 310.止 机构 72。 Stop mechanism 72.

Specifically, the control unit 10 monitors whether or not the tablet 9 is stacked and held in the hollow portion 241 by the tablet sensor 71. When the tablet 9 is not stacked and held in the hollow portion 241, the control unit 10 monitors whether the tablet 9 is detected within a predetermined time by the tablet sensor 71. More specifically, the control unit 10 detects whether the tablet 9 that has fallen to the position between the holding unit 310 and the holding unit 310 is detected by the tablet sensor 71 within a predetermined time. The drop of one lozenge 9 is monitored. If T is used to represent the transfer time of each tablet 9 in the feeder 24, the predetermined time is determined by T × 1.5. However, the transfer time T is determined by the falling speed in the cavity portion 241 of the tablet 9 and the rotation speed of the transfer drum 31. The coefficient "1.5" is an example, and is determined by the shape of the tablet, the interval between the holding portions 310, and the distance from the drop stop mechanism 72 to the transfer drum 31. If the drop of the tablet 9 is detected within a predetermined time, the tablet 9 will fall to the position between the holding portion 310 and the holding portion 310 in the same manner as the tablet 9 just dropped, and will be in a transport posture. It is contained in the holding | maintenance part 310 reliably. On the other hand, when the situation of the tablet 9 is not detected within a predetermined time, the control unit 10 considers that the drop timing of the tablet 9 is off. In this case, since the tablet 9 may not be stored in the holding portion 310 in the transport posture, the control unit 10 drives the drop blocking mechanism 72 to prevent the tablet 9 from falling.

If the drop of the tablet 9 is prevented, as time passes, the tablet 9 will be sequentially stacked on the tablet 9 where the drop is prevented. Then, the control unit 10 monitors whether or not the tablet 9 is laminated on the upper side of the drop stop mechanism 72. The control unit 10 detects that the tablet 9 has been laminated by the receiver of the tablet sensor 71 not receiving infrared rays continuously. When the tablets 9 are stacked, the control unit 10 releases the drop prevention by the drop stop mechanism 72. More specifically, after receiving infrared rays from the receiver of the tablet sensor 71, after the time T1 has elapsed, according to the falling speed of the tablet 9 and the distance from the drop stopper mechanism 72 to the transfer drum 31, and The drop prevention is released so that the tablet 9 is dropped between the holding portion 310 and the holding portion 310. However, the time T1 is determined by the above-mentioned transfer time T × (the number of tablets until the transfer drum 31 is +1). The number of tablets until the transfer drum 31 is determined by the shape of the tablet 9 and the distance from the drop stop mechanism 72 to the transfer drum 31.

    <4. Control Processing of Drop Stop Mechanism 72>    

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the processing when the drop stop mechanism 72 is used to prevent the tablet 9 from falling. The processing shown in FIG. 10 is executed by the control unit 10.

When the drop stop mechanism 72 is not energized, the tablet receiving portion 721 is located at the protruding position. The control unit 10 first drives the drop stop mechanism 72 to move the tablet receiving portion 721 to the standby position (step S1). Next, the control unit 10 uses the tablet sensor 71 to determine whether or not the tablet 9 is stacked and held in the hollow portion 241 (step S2). This determination is made based on whether the light receiver of the tablet sensor 71 continues to receive infrared rays.

When the tablet 9 is retained in the stack (YES in step S2), the control unit 10 executes the process of step S2 again. When the tablet 9 is not stacked (NO in step S2), the control unit 10 determines whether the tablet 9 is detected within a predetermined time (step S3). Specifically, the control unit 10 determines whether or not the next tablet 9 is detected within a predetermined time after the tablet sensor 71 detects the drop of one tablet 9. As described above, the predetermined time is determined based on the shape of the tablet 9, the dropping speed, the interval of the holding portion 310, the rotation speed of the transfer drum 31, the distance from the drop stop mechanism 72 to the transfer drum 31, and the like.

When the situation of the tablet 9 is detected within a predetermined time (YES in step S3), the control unit 10 executes the process of step S3 again. When the tablet 9 is not detected within a predetermined time (No in step S3), the control unit 10 drives the drop stop mechanism 72 to move the tablet receiving portion 721 toward the protruding position (step S4). This prevents the tablets 9 from falling.

The control unit 10 determines whether or not the tablet 9 has been detected for a predetermined time (step S5). When the situation of the tablet 9 is not detected for the predetermined time (No in step S5), the control unit 10 executes step S5 again. When the tablet 9 is detected for a predetermined period of time (YES in step S5), the control unit 10 determines that the tablet 9 is retained in the cavity 241, and the drop prevention by the drop stop mechanism 72 is released. (Step S6). At this time, the control unit 10 comes at a timing determined according to the shape of the tablet 9, the dropping speed, the interval of the holding portion 310, the rotation speed of the transfer drum 31, the distance from the drop stop mechanism 72 to the transfer drum 31, and the like Remove drop prevention. As a result, the tablet 9 is dropped between the holding portion 310 and the holding portion 310. As described above, if the tablet 9 is held in the stack, the supply of the conveyance roller 31 can be resumed, which can save man-hours for user operations.

In this embodiment, as described above, when there is a deviation in the dropping timing of the tablet 9, the tablet 9 is stopped from the feeder 24 toward the transfer drum 31 by preventing the tablet 9 from falling. Of supply. Thereby, it is possible to suppress the possibility that the tablet 9 is not stored in the holding portion 310 in the conveying posture and is damaged.

    <5. Modifications>    

As mentioned above, although the main embodiment of this invention was described, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment.

In the aforementioned embodiment, although the hollow portion 241 of the feeder 24 extends in the vertical direction, it may be inclined.

The structure of the drop stop mechanism 72 that prevents the drop of the tablet 9 is not limited to the aforementioned embodiment. The hollow portion 241 may be completely blocked by the tablet receiving portion 721. Further, the tablet receiving portion 721 may be protruded toward the cavity portion 241 from a direction orthogonal to the vertical direction.

In addition, as an example of the moving part of the present invention, although the conveyance roller 31 has been described as an example, the belt-shaped conveyance belt may be erected on a pair of pulleys in an endless manner. In this case, the holding portion is formed on the surface of the conveying belt.

The printing apparatus 1 described above is a device that prints both sides of the tablet 9 by the first printing section 41 and the second printing section 42. However, the tablet printing device of the present invention may be a device that prints only one side of the tablet 9.

The detailed structure of the printing device 1 may be different from each of the drawings in this case. In addition, each element appearing in the aforementioned embodiment and modification can be appropriately combined within a range where no contradiction occurs.

Claims (8)

A conveying device for conveying granular objects along a conveying path, wherein the conveying path has a conveying path that is arc-shaped toward an obliquely downward direction, and the conveying apparatus includes a holding portion that is held along the conveying path. They are arranged at equal intervals to hold the granular objects; a moving part moves the holding parts along the circular arc-shaped conveying path; and a feeder drops the granular objects to the circular arc shape. On the conveying path; the stopper, which prevents the granules in the feeder from falling; the detection section, in the feeder, positions the granules above the stopper Performing detection; and a stopper control unit, which drives the stopper to prevent the granules from falling when the detection unit does not detect the granules within a predetermined time. The conveying device according to claim 1, wherein the moving part is a drum, and the holding part is formed on an outer peripheral surface of the drum to receive the recessed part of the granular material. The conveying device according to claim 2, wherein the pellet-type lozenge, the feeder causes the pellet to fall in a radial direction consistent with the dropping direction, and the concave portion causes the pellet The above-mentioned radial direction and the conveying direction accommodate the above-mentioned particulate matter. The conveying device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the stopper has a blocking member that protrudes into the feeder and narrows the inside of the feeder downward. In the conveying device according to claim 4, wherein the stopper swings the stopper member in a pendulum-like manner in an obliquely upward direction so as to protrude into the feeder. For example, in the conveying device of claim 1, wherein the stopper control unit has prevented the falling of the granules by using the stopper, if the detecting unit detects the granules for a predetermined period of time , The above-mentioned drop prevention is released. A printing device comprising: the conveying device according to claim 1; and a printing unit that ejects ink droplets onto the surface of the granular material conveyed by the conveying device. A conveying method for holding a granular material by holding portions arranged at equal intervals along a conveying path, and conveying the granular material along the conveying path, wherein the granular material is dropped to In the feeder with a circular arc-shaped conveying path toward the obliquely downward direction, the granules are detected by the detection unit at a position higher than the stopper that prevents the granules in the feeder from falling. Detecting, and when the detecting section does not detect the granular matter in a predetermined time, the stopper is driven to prevent the granular matter from falling.