WO2016103477A1

WO2016103477A1 - Filter inspection apparatus

Info

Publication number: WO2016103477A1
Application number: PCT/JP2014/084599
Authority: WO
Inventors: 木田　信三; 智史中村; 直樹石田; 是枝　雄一
Original assignee: 日本たばこ産業株式会社; 八光オートメーション株式会社
Priority date: 2014-12-26
Filing date: 2014-12-26
Publication date: 2016-06-30
Also published as: JPWO2016103477A1; EP3238552A1; EP3238552A4; EP3238552B8; PL3238552T3; EP3238552B1; JP6367369B2

Abstract

The filter inspection apparatus checks if a predetermined object designed to be placed in a smoking article filter is properly arranged. The filter inspection apparatus is provided with: an emission unit for emitting an inspection electromagnetic wave of a predetermined frequency to a smoking article filter to be inspected; a receiving unit for receiving from the filter a reflected electromagnetic wave of the inspection electromagnetic wave emitted from the emission unit; an antenna unit that is placed to face the filter and propagates the inspection electromagnetic wave and the reflected electromagnetic wave; an acquisition unit for acquiring, on the basis of a reflection signal obtained by the receiving unit, predetermined information relating to the intensity or phase shift of the reflection signal, which are associated with the arrangement of the predetermined object in the filter; and a determination unit for determining if the predetermined object is properly arranged in the filter on the basis of the predetermined information acquired by the acquisition unit. This configuration reduces the size of the inspection apparatus.

Description

Filter inspection device

The present invention relates to an inspection apparatus for inspecting the quality of an arrangement state of a predetermined object to be arranged in a filter for smoking articles.

It is known that a liquid-filled capsule is arranged in a filter provided in the cigarette, and the content liquid of the liquid-filled capsule is composed of, for example, a fragrance and a solvent in which the fragrance is dissolved. When using a cigarette equipped with such a filter containing a capsule, the user squeezes the liquid-filled capsule prior to or during smoking to cause the liquid content to leak out, and the cigarette mainstream smoke is a fragrance. Of fragrances. In a cigarette provided with such a filter, since the presence of the liquid-filled capsule greatly affects its quality, it is necessary to inspect whether or not the liquid-filled capsule is normally arranged in the filter. For example, in Patent Document 1, in order to determine an arrangement state of a capsule to be arranged in a cigarette filter, an electromagnetic wave in a frequency band of 0.1 THz to 10 THz is irradiated to a filter to be inspected, and the transmitted electromagnetic wave is applied. A form to be used is disclosed.

Moreover, in the technique shown in Patent Document 2, a sensor transmitter is arranged at the bottom of each of a plurality of grooves provided on the drum, and a sensor receiver is arranged in a form fixed to the outside of the drum. A device is formed. At the time of inspection, the drum is rotated in a state where the filter is placed so as to cover the sensor transmitter of the drum housing, and at this time, a plurality of transmitted electromagnetic waves due to the transmission of the electromagnetic wave transmitted from the sensor transmitter through the filter. It is comprised so that it can receive with a sensor receiver. Based on the reception results of these sensor receivers, the state of the capsule in the filter is detected.

International Publication No. 2014/078290 International Publication No. 2014/005677

In order to inspect the quality of the arrangement state of a predetermined arrangement object such as a capsule to be arranged in the filter, in the conventional technique, the target filter is irradiated with electromagnetic waves, and the electromagnetic waves are transmitted through the filter. The transmitted electromagnetic wave is used. In such an electromagnetic wave transmission type determination technique, when the electromagnetic wave is transmitted through the filter, the arrangement state of the predetermined arrangement in the filter is reflected in the electromagnetic wave, so that the inspection regarding the arrangement state can be performed. Therefore, it is necessary to arrange the electromagnetic wave irradiation unit and the transmission electromagnetic wave reception unit on opposite sides of the target filter, and as a result, a configuration for inspection of the arrangement state (hereinafter referred to as “inspection configuration”). ) Must have a large space volume.

Further, in a mass-produced filter such as a cigarette filter, when determining the arrangement state of a predetermined arrangement object to be arranged therein, the determination is performed so as not to hinder the efficient production of the filter and cigarette. Preferably it is done. Therefore, it is preferable that when the target filter is transported on the production line, the determination regarding the arrangement state of the predetermined arrangement in the filter is performed. However, as in the prior art, inspection using transmitted electromagnetic waves is performed. However, it is difficult to accurately arrange the inspection configuration on the production line, particularly on the line on which the filter is transported.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and an object thereof is to reduce the size of an inspection apparatus that inspects the arrangement state of a predetermined arrangement in a filter for smoking articles.

In the present invention, in order to solve the above-described problem, one antenna unit irradiates the inspection electromagnetic wave to the target filter to be inspected and receives the reflected electromagnetic wave returning from the target filter due to the irradiation electromagnetic wave. The structure which performs is adopted. With this configuration, it is possible to reduce the space volume required for acquiring information related to the arrangement state of the predetermined arrangement in the target filter.

Specifically, the present invention is an inspection device for inspecting the quality of an arrangement state of a predetermined object to be arranged in a filter for smoking articles, wherein the inspection electromagnetic wave having a predetermined frequency is applied to the smoking object to be inspected. An irradiation unit that irradiates a target filter that is a filter for goods, a receiving unit that receives a reflected electromagnetic wave from the target filter by the inspection electromagnetic wave irradiated by the irradiation unit, and a target filter An antenna unit that is disposed and propagates the inspection electromagnetic wave and the reflected electromagnetic wave, and based on the reflected signal obtained by the receiving unit, the intensity of the reflected signal related to the arrangement state of the predetermined arrangement in the target filter; Alternatively, an acquisition unit that acquires predetermined information regarding a phase shift of the reflected signal, and the target file based on the predetermined information acquired by the acquisition unit. Comprising a determining unit the quality of the arrangement of the predetermined arrangement thereof arranged in data, the.

The inspection apparatus according to the present invention has an antenna unit arranged to face the target filter. This antenna unit carries inspection electromagnetic waves and reflected electromagnetic waves. Therefore, when the inspection electromagnetic wave irradiated from the irradiation unit reaches the target filter through the antenna unit, at least a part of the inspection electromagnetic wave is reflected by the target filter and received by the reception unit through the antenna unit. In addition, even if the inspection electromagnetic wave is transmitted through the target filter, the electromagnetic wave that is reflected at a place other than the target filter and is directed toward the reception unit may be received by the reception unit through the antenna unit. Such an electromagnetic wave reflected from the inspection electromagnetic wave is referred to as a reflected electromagnetic wave in distinction from the inspection electromagnetic wave irradiated to the target filter. The reflected electromagnetic wave reflects a physical action resulting from the arrangement state of the predetermined arrangement object in the target filter. That is, when the inspection electromagnetic wave is irradiated to the target filter and reflected by the target filter, the arrangement state of the predetermined arrangement, such as the shape of the predetermined arrangement, its deformation state, and the position in the filter, is the intensity or phase of the reflected electromagnetic wave. Will be reflected.

Here, the predetermined object to be inspected for the arrangement state by the inspection apparatus of the present invention should be arranged in the filter, and the information on the arrangement state can be reflected in the reflected electromagnetic wave by the inspection electromagnetic wave. Any object, structure, etc. may be used. For example, as the predetermined arrangement, a liquid-filled capsule filled with a predetermined perfume liquid can be exemplified. The liquid-filled capsule is a capsule in which a predetermined fragrance liquid is filled, and the fragrance liquid reflects a change in electromagnetic wave intensity and a phase shift due to reflection of the inspection electromagnetic wave in the reflected electromagnetic wave. Further, the arrangement state is a state related to the arrangement of the predetermined arrangement in the filter. For example, the arrangement is suitably arranged with respect to the position of the predetermined arrangement in the filter. For example, a state where it is suitably arranged without being deformed, a state where a predetermined arrangement exists in the filter, and the like can be exemplified.

Here, the reflected electromagnetic wave is received by the receiving unit, and the reflected signal formed there is a signal relating to the intensity and phase shift of the reflected electromagnetic wave reflecting the arrangement state of the predetermined arrangement. Therefore, the acquisition unit acquires predetermined information related to the intensity and phase shift of the reflection signal as information reflecting the arrangement state of the predetermined arrangement based on the reflection signal obtained by the reception unit. Then, the determination unit can grasp the arrangement state of the predetermined arrangement based on the predetermined information, and thus determines the quality of the arrangement state. For example, when the intensity or phase shift of the reflected signal as the predetermined information belongs to a reference range, the determination unit can determine that the arrangement state of the predetermined arrangement is suitable.

In this way, by configuring the antenna unit to face the target filter and transmitting the inspection electromagnetic wave through the antenna unit and receiving the reflected electromagnetic wave, the inspection necessary for the inspection of the arrangement state of the predetermined arrangement is required. Is only a space existing between the antenna unit and the target filter, and the inspection space can be made compact compared to the conventional transmission type inspection apparatus. Furthermore, the inventors of the present application have found that the frequency range of the inspection electromagnetic wave can be set relatively low in the reflection type inspection apparatus as in the present invention. For example, an electromagnetic wave having a frequency in the range of 10 GHz to 100 GHz can be suitably used as the inspection electromagnetic wave. More preferably, an electromagnetic wave having a frequency in the range of 20 GHz to 30 GHz can be used as the inspection electromagnetic wave.

In the inspection apparatus described above, the antenna unit may be formed so as to transmit the inspection electromagnetic wave to the target filter and receive the reflected electromagnetic wave from the target filter in the same antenna housing. By configuring in this way, the configuration of the antenna unit can be made more compact, and the space volume required for the arrangement can be made as small as possible, so that the downsizing of the inspection apparatus can be promoted.

In the inspection apparatus of the present invention, the receiving unit reflects not only the reflected electromagnetic wave in which the inspection electromagnetic wave is directly reflected by the target filter but also the inspection electromagnetic wave receives some action from the target filter, and the arrangement state of the predetermined arrangement is reflected. An electromagnetic wave that is directed toward the receiving unit from the target filter may be configured to be received as a reflected electromagnetic wave. In this way, by using multiple types of electromagnetic waves reflecting the arrangement state of the predetermined arrangement object as reflected electromagnetic waves, the arrangement state of the predetermined arrangement object is more accurately reflected in the predetermined information acquired by the acquisition unit, and the determination is made. The determination accuracy by the unit can be improved.

As an example, the inspection apparatus described above is disposed on the back of the target filter on the side opposite to the antenna unit, and transmits the transmitted electromagnetic wave that is a part of the irradiated inspection electromagnetic wave and transmitted through the target filter again. In addition to the reflected electromagnetic wave from the target filter, the receiving unit may reflect the transmitted electromagnetic wave by the reflective unit. Configured to receive a secondary reflected electromagnetic wave that is a generated electromagnetic wave. The secondary reflected electromagnetic wave passes through the target filter once in the process from the irradiation part to the reflection part, and then passes through the target filter once again in the process from the reflection part to the reception part. Become. Therefore, the arrangement state of the predetermined arrangement in the target filter is reflected relatively strongly in the secondary reflected electromagnetic wave. Therefore, in addition to the reflected electromagnetic wave, the secondary reflected electromagnetic wave is received by the receiving unit, and predetermined information is obtained therefrom, whereby the determining unit can make a more accurate determination regarding the quality of the arrangement state.

Here, as a configuration in which the reception unit can receive the secondary reflected electromagnetic wave by the reflection unit as described above, the inspection apparatus of the present invention transports a plurality of the smoking article filters placed on a transport table. The apparatus further includes a transfer device arranged with respect to the antenna unit such that the inspection electromagnetic wave is irradiated to the target filter included in the filter for smoking articles transferred by the transfer device. The reflection unit can be exemplified by a metal predetermined member included in the transport table. In the said form, when a test | inspection electromagnetic wave is irradiated from the irradiation part of an antenna part with respect to the object filter in the state in which the several filter is mounted and conveyed on the conveyance stand of a conveying apparatus, according to the said object filter In addition to the directly reflected electromagnetic wave, the secondary reflected electromagnetic wave reflected by the predetermined metal member of the carrier is received by the receiving unit of the antenna unit. Therefore, according to the said form, since the quality determination regarding the arrangement state of the predetermined arrangement | positioning object in a filter is performed during conveyance of a filter, efficient and highly accurate determination is realizable.

Here, in the inspection apparatus described above, the predetermined information is information on the intensity of the reflected signal, and the inspection apparatus is configured to smoke the inspection electromagnetic wave having the predetermined frequency is not disposed in the predetermined arrangement. The image processing apparatus may further include a correction unit that corrects the predetermined information acquired by the acquisition unit based on information on the reference signal intensity obtained in advance by irradiating the reference filter that is the article filter. . And the said determination part may determine the quality of the arrangement | positioning state of the said predetermined arrangement | positioning arrange | positioned at the said target filter based on the said predetermined information correct | amended by the said correction | amendment part.

The reference signal intensity obtained by the receiving unit when the inspection electromagnetic wave is irradiated to the reference filter in which the predetermined arrangement is not arranged is information other than the arrangement state of the predetermined arrangement in the filter, in other words, It can be said that the noise with respect to the information regarding the arrangement state is reflected. Therefore, it can be said that the correction unit can accurately extract information on the arrangement state of the predetermined arrangement in the target filter by correcting the predetermined information based on the information on the reference signal intensity. Based on the corrected predetermined information, the determination unit makes a determination regarding the quality of the arrangement state, whereby the determination accuracy can be improved.

Moreover, in the inspection apparatus up to the above, irradiation of the inspection electromagnetic wave from the irradiation unit may be performed on the target filter being conveyed, and in that case, irradiation of the inspection electromagnetic wave by the irradiation unit and While the target filter passes through a predetermined irradiation range set so as to enable reception of reflected electromagnetic waves by the reception unit, the acquisition unit may receive information on the intensity of the reflected signal, or the reflection Information about the phase shift of the signal is acquired a plurality of times, and the intensity information that has been acquired or the phase shift information that has the maximum change with respect to the test electromagnetic wave, or the phase shift that has the maximum change with respect to the test electromagnetic wave is obtained. Information may be acquired as the predetermined information. As described above, when the information on the intensity of the reflected signal or information on the phase shift of the reflected signal is acquired a plurality of times, the intensity information having the largest change or the maximum phase shift information with respect to the inspection electromagnetic wave is the reflected electromagnetic wave. It can be said that the information corresponds to the state that most accurately reflects the arrangement state of the predetermined arrangement object in the target filter. Therefore, the accuracy can be improved by performing the determination by the determination unit using the predetermined information which is the intensity information having the maximum change or the phase shift information having the maximum change.

According to the present invention, it is possible to reduce the size of an inspection apparatus that inspects the arrangement state of a predetermined object in a filter for smoking articles.

It is a figure which shows roughly the application of the test | inspection process by the test | inspection apparatus based on this invention to the manufacturing process of the filter for smoking articles, and a cigarette. It is a figure showing the schematic structure of the inspection device concerning the present invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the correlation with the position on the drum in which the filter for smoking articles is arrange | positioned with the inspection apparatus shown in FIG. 2, and the received intensity of reflected electromagnetic waves. It is a figure which shows the correlation with the frequency of the test | inspection electromagnetic wave used in the test | inspection apparatus which concerns on this invention, and the received intensity of reflected electromagnetic waves. It is a flowchart of the test | inspection process performed in the test | inspection apparatus which concerns on this invention. It is a figure which shows the correlation with the frequency of the test | inspection electromagnetic wave used in the test | inspection apparatus which concerns on this invention, and the phase shift of reflected electromagnetic wave.

Hereinafter, specific embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The dimensions, materials, shapes, relative arrangements, and the like of the components described in the present embodiment are not intended to limit the technical scope of the invention to those unless otherwise specified.

FIG. 1 shows a manufacturing process of a filter attached to a cigarette on a capsule filter hoisting machine 10, a cigarette manufacturing process on a cigarette hoisting machine 15, and the cigarette hoisting machine 15. It is a figure which shows the flow of the test | inspection process of the liquid filling capsule (henceforth a "capsule") arrange | positioned in the filter. Hereinafter, the content of each process is demonstrated easily. First, the flow on the capsule filter hoisting machine 10 will be described. In the capsule filter hoisting machine 10, capsules are supplied and inserted from the capsule supply process 12 into the filter material, which is a bundle of acetate fibers, supplied from the filter material supply process 11, and then the capsules in the winding process 13. Is inserted into a rod shape by a web. Thereafter, in the cutting step 14, the filter rod is cut at a predetermined length with a cutter (not shown) to obtain a capsule filter rod.

The manufactured capsule filter rod is sent to the filter chip attachment 16 in the cigarette hoisting machine 15. There, first, the capsule filter rod is integrally wound around the cigarette rod manufactured in the previous step through the tip paper in the tip winding step 17. Usually, the capsule filter rod has a double length, and cigarette rods are arranged on both ends of the double length capsule filter rod on the drum, and chip paper is wound to produce a double cigarette. Is done. This double cigarette is sent to a cutting step 18 performed on another drum, where it is cut to produce a cigarette having a length of one. Then, the manufactured cigarette is sent to the inspection step 19, and the capsule inspection apparatus shown in FIG. 2 provided in the filter chip attachment 16 relates to an efficient capsule on-machine with respect to the cigarette filter. Inspection is performed. The capsule inspection apparatus corresponds to the inspection apparatus according to the present invention.

Therefore, the configuration of the capsule inspection apparatus will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 2, the capsule inspection apparatus is used for the inspection on the quality of the arrangement state of the capsule 1 a in the filter 1 of the cigarette 2 and the control apparatus 20 for executing various processes executed by the inspection apparatus. A probe antenna 23 and a drum 30 capable of transporting a plurality of cigarettes 2 having a filter to be inspected are provided.

Here, a circulator 24 is connected to the probe antenna 23, and the inspection electromagnetic wave supplied from the noise source 21 passes through the low-pass filter 22 and the inspection electromagnetic wave in a predetermined frequency band is generated in the circulator 24. Then, the inspection electromagnetic wave is input to the circulator 24. Preferably, an electromagnetic wave having an oscillation frequency of 22 GHz to 40 GHz generated by the noise source 21 is passed through the low pass filter 22 to generate an inspection electromagnetic wave of 20 to 30 GHz. As another example, the frequency of the inspection electromagnetic wave input to the circulator 24 may belong to 10 to 100 GHz.

Furthermore, a detector 25 is connected to the circulator 24 at its output. The detector 25 takes out an electrical reflection signal corresponding to a reflected electromagnetic wave, which will be described later, and then performs predetermined electrical processing such as amplification and filtering on the reflection signal by the amplifier filter 26, and sends the reflected signal to the control device 20. Is delivered.

Here, the probe antenna 23 has a long and narrow antenna casing, and is arranged so that the tip thereof faces the filter 1 to be inspected. And the inspection electromagnetic wave is irradiated from the front-end | tip part. Then, the irradiated inspection electromagnetic wave is reflected by the filter 1 or the drum body 31 as will be described later, and the reflected electromagnetic wave is received by the probe antenna 23 again. Therefore, in the capsule inspection apparatus shown in FIG. 2, both the inspection electromagnetic wave and the reflected electromagnetic wave are carried in the probe antenna 23. Therefore, the inspection electromagnetic wave transmission part and the reflected electromagnetic wave reception part are arranged on the same side with respect to the filter 1.

Therefore, the inspection electromagnetic wave transmission part and the reflected electromagnetic wave reception part of the probe antenna 23 are installed at positions facing the drum 30 that is rotationally driven. A rotary encoder 32 is connected to a drum body 31 supported so as to be rotatable via a shaft.

A cigarette 2 having the filter 1 to be inspected is arranged on the drum body 31 of the drum 30 as shown in FIG. Specifically, the drum body 31 is a metal cylindrical object, and an accommodation portion formed so that the cigarette 2 is accommodated in the axial direction is disposed on the surface of the cylindrical object along the axial direction. The cigarette 2 has a filter 1 positioned on the right end surface side of the drum body 31 in FIG. 2 and a cigarette rod positioned on the left end surface side of the drum body 31 in FIG. It is accommodated in the accommodating part. In addition, arrangement | positioning of the cigarette 2 shown in FIG. 2 is the state which projected the single cigarette 2 accommodated in the said accommodating part on the cross section containing the axis | shaft of the said cylindrical object.

Then, a plurality of cigarettes 2 are simultaneously accommodated on the surface of the cylindrical object of the drum body 31 and are conveyed by rotation. Since the filter 1 of the cigarette 2 being rotated and conveyed on the drum body 31 is disposed on the surface of the cylindrical object of the drum body 31, as described above, in the part of the rotation and conveyance process, the probe antenna is used. 23, the positional relationship that can be opposed to the inspection electromagnetic wave transmission part and the reflected electromagnetic wave reception part, that is, the positional relation that belongs to the inspection region that is irradiated with the inspection electromagnetic wave and can receive the reflected electromagnetic wave, It is formed between the probe antenna 23 and the filter 1. Therefore, in the process of rotating and transporting the plurality of cigarettes 2 by the drum 30, the capsule inspection apparatus shown in FIG. 2 sequentially inspects the filters 1 of the plurality of cigarettes 2 by irradiating inspection electromagnetic waves from the probe antenna 23. It will be attached to.

The rotary encoder 32 is driven by the drum drive shaft, and the pulse signal obtained therefrom and the drum clock pulse (DCP) corresponding to each cigarette generated by the hoisting machine are passed to the controller 20 of the capsule inspection apparatus. Has been. Therefore, based on the pulse signal and the DCP, the capsule inspection apparatus can grasp which cigarette filter 1 on the drum 30 is inspected.

Here, the details of the inspection of the arrangement state of the capsule 1a in the filter 1 by the capsule inspection apparatus will be described based on FIG. In addition, as an arrangement | positioning state in a present Example, the capsule 1a is not damaged, ie, the state which is normally arrange | positioned in the filter 1 without leaking an internal fragrance | flavor liquid (henceforth "normal arrangement state"). And the state (henceforth "abnormal arrangement state") which the capsule 1a was damaged and internal fragrance | flavor liquid leaked can be illustrated. The upper stage (a), the middle stage (b), and the lower stage (c) of FIG. 3 schematically show the accommodation state of the cigarette 2 in the drum 30 and show the received intensity of the reflected electromagnetic wave corresponding to the accommodation state. Specifically, in each of (a) to (c), the filter 1 is conveyed by the drum 30 in the width direction (perpendicular to the paper surface of FIG. 3) with respect to the probe antenna 23 by the inspection electromagnetic wave. Shows the transition of the reception intensity of the reflected electromagnetic wave with respect to the conveying distance in the width direction. Specifically, the line L1 is a reception intensity transition when the arrangement state of the capsule 1a in the filter 1 is a normal arrangement state, and the line L2 is an abnormal arrangement state of the arrangement state of the capsule 1a in the filter 1. It is a reception intensity transition in the case.

The upper stage (a) of FIG. 3 shows a state in which the end face (right end face in FIG. 3) of the filter 1 of the cigarette 2 is flush with the right end face of the drum body 31, that is, the right end face of the filter 1. This corresponds to the accommodation state of the cigarette 2 in a state where the protrusion amount ΔL1 from the right end surface of the drum body 31 is zero. In this accommodated state, the metal side surface 31 a of the drum body 31 is located on the opposite side of the probe antenna 23 of the capsule 1 a in the filter 1. Moreover, the middle stage (b) of FIG. 3 shows the accommodation state of the cigarette 2 in which the right end surface of the filter 1 protrudes from the right end surface of the drum body 31, and the protrusion amount is ΔL2. In this accommodated state, although the filter 1 protrudes from the right end surface of the drum body 31, the metal side surface 31a of the drum body 31 is still located on the side opposite to the probe antenna 23 of the capsule 1a in the filter 1. It is in a state. Further, the lower part (c) of FIG. 3 shows the accommodation state of the cigarette 2 in which the right end surface of the filter 1 protrudes from the right end surface of the drum body 31, and the protrusion amount is ΔL3. In this accommodated state, the filter 1 protrudes from the right end surface of the drum body 31, and the metal side surface 31 a of the drum body 31 is not located on the opposite side of the capsule 1 a in the filter 1 from the probe antenna 23. ing.

Since the inspection electromagnetic wave irradiated from the irradiation unit 23b is irradiated to the filter 1 with a certain spread, the filter 1 in each accommodated state of FIGS. 3A to 3C is inspected from the irradiation unit 23b. It is located in the area where electromagnetic waves are irradiated. Here, a part of the irradiated inspection electromagnetic wave is reflected on the filter 1 side and becomes a reflected electromagnetic wave directed toward the probe antenna 23. The reflected electromagnetic waves include electromagnetic waves reflected at various sites on the filter 1 side, and can schematically be exemplified by the following four reflected electromagnetic waves.
(1) Reflected electromagnetic wave on the surface of the filter 1 (2) Reflected electromagnetic wave on the surface of the capsule 1a in the filter 1 (that is, the boundary surface between the capsule 1a and the filter 1) (3) Capsule 1a that passes through the filter 1 Reflected electromagnetic waves on the metal side surface 31a of the drum main body 31 due to the transmitted electromagnetic waves that do not pass through (4) Reflected electromagnetic waves on the metal side surface 31a of the drum main body 31 due to the transmitted electromagnetic waves transmitted through the filter 1 and the capsule 1a

Of the reflected electromagnetic waves (1) to (4), the reflected electromagnetic waves (1) and (3) are substantially free from the inspection electromagnetic wave acting on the capsule 1a. Information on the arrangement state of the capsule 1a is not reflected. On the other hand, with respect to the reflected electromagnetic wave (2), since the inspection electromagnetic wave is reflected by the capsule 1a that should be filled with the fragrance liquid, a part of the inspection electromagnetic wave is absorbed during the reflection, and as a result, the capsule 1a The presence of the fragrance liquid is reflected in the reception intensity of the reflected electromagnetic wave. As for the reflected electromagnetic wave (4), the electromagnetic wave is reflected by the metal side surface 31a. However, since the inspection electromagnetic wave is transmitted through the capsule 1a in the reflection process, a part of the inspection electromagnetic wave is absorbed. As a result, like the reflected electromagnetic wave (2), the presence of the fragrance liquid in the capsule 1a is reflected in the reception intensity of the reflected electromagnetic wave.

The capsule inspection apparatus according to the present invention uses the reflection of the presence of the fragrance liquid in the capsule 1a to the reception intensity of the reflected electromagnetic wave, so that the arrangement state of the capsule 1a in the filter 1 is good, that is, whether the capsule 1a is in a normal arrangement state. Inspecting whether there is an abnormal arrangement state is performed. Specifically, in the accommodated state shown in FIG. 3A, since the metal side surface 31a exists on the back surface of the capsule 1a when viewed from the probe antenna 23, the reflected electromagnetic waves (2) and (4) Can be received by the probe antenna 23. Therefore, when the capsule 1a is in a normal arrangement state, the perfume liquid is present in a certain region in the filter 1, so that the degree of absorption of the inspection electromagnetic wave increases, and the reception intensity by the probe antenna 23 greatly decreases. It will be. In the present embodiment, since the capsule 1a is arranged at the center of the width of the filter 1, if the capsule 1a is in the normal arrangement state, the reception intensity greatly decreases at the approximate median of the transport distance. It can be understood from FIG. On the other hand, when the capsule 1a is in an abnormally arranged state, the perfume liquid diffuses into the filter 1, so that the degree of absorption of the inspection electromagnetic wave is reduced, and the received intensity in the received intensity transition compared to the normal arranged state. The amount of decrease is small. As a result, when the reduction amount of the reception intensity in the reception intensity transition is compared between the normal arrangement state and the abnormal arrangement state, a clear difference ΔV1 can be found as shown in FIG. Therefore, it is possible to distinguish and determine the normal arrangement state and the abnormal arrangement state by using the difference ΔV1 in the amount of decrease in reception intensity.

3B, the filter 1 protrudes from the end surface of the drum body 31, but the metal side surface 31a exists on the back surface of the capsule 1a when viewed from the probe antenna 23. Therefore, the reflected electromagnetic waves (2) and (4) can be received by the probe antenna 23. Therefore, even in this case, when the amount of decrease in reception intensity in the reception intensity transition is compared between the normal arrangement state and the abnormal arrangement state, a clear difference ΔV2 can be found as shown in FIG.

Here, in the accommodated state shown in FIG. 3C, since the metal side surface 31 a does not exist on the back surface of the capsule 1 a when viewed from the probe antenna 23, the reflected electromagnetic wave (2) is received by the probe antenna 23. Although it is possible, the reflected electromagnetic wave (4) is not generated and cannot be received. Therefore, in the accommodated state, the difference ΔV3 in the amount of decrease in reception strength in the reception strength transition between the normal placement state and the abnormal placement state is smaller than the state shown in FIGS. 3 (a) and 3 (b). However, it can be grasped as a clear decrease in received strength to some extent. Therefore, even in such an accommodation state, it is possible to distinguish and determine a normal arrangement state and an abnormal arrangement state using the difference ΔV3.

Here, in the capsule inspection apparatus of this embodiment, an inspection electromagnetic wave of 22 to 28 GHz is irradiated. As described above, in order to separate the normal placement state and the abnormal placement state by using the difference in the reduction amount of the reception strength, the reception strength of the normal placement state and the abnormal placement state in the frequency band of 22 to 28 GHz. It is preferable to use an electromagnetic wave having a frequency at which the difference in the amount of decrease is greatest. Therefore, in order to understand the correlation between the frequency of the inspection electromagnetic wave and the reception intensity, FIG. 4 shows the transition of the reception intensity of the reflected electromagnetic wave by the probe antenna 23 when the inspection electromagnetic wave of each frequency is used. Specifically, each of (a) to (e) in FIG. 4 corresponds to the frequency of the inspection electromagnetic wave of 22 GHz, 24 GHz, 26 GHz, 28 GHz, and 30 GHz, and the line L3 is the capsule 1a in the filter 1 The reception intensity transition when the arrangement state is the normal arrangement state, and the line L4 is the reception intensity transition when the arrangement state of the capsule 1a in the filter 1 is the abnormal arrangement state. Note that the sign of the reception strength of each reception strength transition shown in FIG. 4 is opposite to the sign of the reception strength of each reception strength transition shown in FIG.

As can be understood from FIG. 4, in this embodiment, the difference in the received intensity changes between the normal arrangement state and the abnormal arrangement state is relatively large at any frequency in the frequency band of 22 to 28 GHz. It can be said that the inspection electromagnetic wave having a frequency can be suitably used for the inspection processing relating to the arrangement state of the capsule 1a. However, in particular, when the frequency of the inspection electromagnetic wave is 24 GHz or 26 GHz, the difference can be found to be the largest. Therefore, the inspection processing regarding the arrangement state of the capsule 1a is most preferably performed using the inspection electromagnetic wave of 24 GHz or 26 GHz. Do. In addition, since it is thought that the frequency of the suitable test | inspection electromagnetic wave for this test | inspection process changes with the shape of the capsule 1a and the filter 1, a magnitude | size, the component of the fragrance | flavor liquid in the capsule 1a, the material of the filter 1, etc., these The frequency of the inspection electromagnetic wave may be set as appropriate in consideration of factors.

Here, based on FIG. 4, the details of the inspection process of the filter 1 executed by the capsule inspection apparatus of the present invention, that is, the inspection process related to the arrangement state of the capsule 1 a in the filter 1 using the above-described inspection electromagnetic wave will be described. To do. In the inspection process, a predetermined control program is executed in the control device 20. The inspection process is a process executed on the filter 1 provided in one cigarette 2. Therefore, when cigarettes are sequentially fed to the capsule inspection device by the drum 30 as described above, the inspection processing is repeatedly executed for the filter 1 of each cigarette 2. It is assumed that the inspection process of the present embodiment is performed with the cigarette 2 being housed in the drum body 31 in the housed state shown in FIG.

First, in S101, whether or not the cigarette filter 1 to be inspected has reached the inspection area, that is, whether or not the filter 1 has reached the irradiation area of the inspection electromagnetic wave from the probe antenna 23. Is determined. As described above, the control device 20 can grasp the relative position of the cigarette with respect to the inspection region by using the pulse signal from the rotary encoder 32, so that the filter 1 of the cigarette 2 conveyed by the drum 30 can be obtained. It can be determined that the inspection area has been reached. If an affirmative determination is made in S101, the process proceeds to S102. If a negative determination is made, the process of S101 is repeated, and the arrival of the filter 1 in the inspection region is awaited.

Next, in S102, the inspection antenna is irradiated with the inspection electromagnetic wave from the probe antenna 23 to the filter 1 that has reached the inspection region. When the process of S102 ends, the process proceeds to S103. In S103, the reflected electromagnetic wave is received by the probe antenna 23. As described above, in the present inspection process, since the accommodation state of the cigarette 2 with respect to the drum body 31 is the accommodation state shown in FIG. 3A, the reflected electromagnetic wave received by the probe antenna 23 is the reflected electromagnetic wave (1). Includes all of (4). When the process of S103 ends, the process proceeds to S104.

In S104, the reception intensity of the reflected electromagnetic wave received in S103 is corrected. Specifically, the control device 20 determines the reception intensity of the probe antenna 23 when the inspection electromagnetic wave is irradiated from the probe antenna 23 to the non-arranged filter that is the reference filter and the capsule 1a is not disposed. , As a reference signal strength. The reception intensity (hereinafter referred to as “corrected reception intensity”) obtained by subtracting the reference signal intensity from the reception intensity of the reflected electromagnetic wave received in S103 theoretically reflects only the arrangement state of the capsule 1a. It can be said that the received strength is high. Therefore, the accuracy of the inspection process related to the arrangement state of the capsule 1a can be improved by using the corrected reception intensity. When the process of S104 ends, the process proceeds to S105.

In S105, it is determined whether or not the corrected reception intensity acquired in S104 has been updated, that is, whether or not a corrected reception intensity having a lower intensity has been acquired. As described with reference to FIG. 3, when the first inspection electromagnetic wave is irradiated after the filter 1 reaches the inspection region, there is no corrected received intensity acquired in the past. In S105, an affirmative determination is made. In addition, when the inspection electromagnetic wave is irradiated for the second time or later, the corrected reception intensity (corrected reception intensity stored in the memory of the control device 20) acquired by the past irradiation of the inspection electromagnetic wave and the current time The corrected reception intensity acquired by the irradiation of the inspection electromagnetic wave is compared, and if the current correction reception intensity is small, an affirmative determination is made in S105. If an affirmative determination is made in S105, the process proceeds to S106. In S106, the corrected reception intensity data stored in the memory in the control device 20 is rewritten with the corrected reception intensity obtained by the current irradiation of the inspection electromagnetic wave. It is done. In the case of the first inspection electromagnetic wave irradiation, the corrected reception intensity is not stored in the memory, and therefore the corrected reception intensity obtained by the first inspection electromagnetic wave irradiation is written in the memory as it is. On the other hand, if a negative determination is made in S105, the process proceeds to S107. In S107, the past correction reception intensity data stored in the memory in the control device 20 is maintained, and the correction obtained by the current irradiation of the inspection electromagnetic wave is performed. The reception strength is not used.

In this way, the data of the corrected reception intensity is updated because the inspection electromagnetic wave is reflected on the surface of the capsule 1a and the reflected electromagnetic wave is received, and the inspection electromagnetic wave transmitted through the capsule 1a is reflected on the metal side surface 31a and reflected. When the electromagnetic wave is received again after passing through the capsule 1a, that is, when the probe antenna 23 receives the reflected electromagnetic waves (2) and (4), the arrangement state of the capsule 1a is most effective for the reflected electromagnetic wave. This is because the reception intensity of reflected electromagnetic waves or the corrected reception intensity at that time is considered to be the smallest. When the process of S106 or S107 ends, the process proceeds to S108.

Next, in S108, it is determined whether or not the filter 1 has exited the inspection area. It should be noted that the cigarette is rotated and conveyed by the drum 30 during the processing of S102 to S106 and S107 described above. Therefore, the relative position of the cigarette with respect to the inspection area at the present time is grasped using the pulse signal from the rotary encoder 32, and the determination process of S108 is performed. If an affirmative determination is made in S108, the process proceeds to S109, and if a negative determination is made, the processes in and after S102 are repeated, and the process of acquiring the corrected received intensity by irradiating the filter 1 with the inspection electromagnetic wave is performed again.

Next, in S109, the corrected reception intensity finally stored in the memory of the control device 20 is determined as the peak reception intensity Vp. The peak reception intensity Vp is a reception intensity that most strongly reflects the arrangement state of the capsule 1a arranged inside the filter 1 to be inspected. When the process of S109 ends, the process proceeds to S110. In S110, based on the peak reception intensity Vp, a determination is made regarding the capsule arrangement state in the filter 1 to be inspected. Specifically, when the peak reception intensity Vp is smaller than the predetermined threshold value Rv, it is determined that the capsule 1a is in the normal arrangement state in the filter 1 (processing of S111). In the normal arrangement state in which the state in which the fragrance liquid is appropriately filled in the capsule 1a is maintained, the fragrance liquid is locally dispersed in the filter 1 without being dispersed. Therefore, the presence state of the fragrance liquid is reflected in the reflected electromagnetic wave, and the peak reception intensity Vp is preferably a small value. Considering this point, the determination of S110 is performed.

On the other hand, when the peak reception intensity Vp is not smaller than the predetermined threshold value Rv, it is determined that the capsule 1a is in an abnormal arrangement state in the filter 1 (processing of S112). In an abnormal arrangement state in which the state in which the fragrance liquid is properly filled in the capsule 1a is not maintained, the fragrance liquid is dispersed in the filter 1. Therefore, the reflection effect of the fragrance liquid is hardly reflected in the reflected electromagnetic wave, and the peak reception intensity Vp becomes a relatively large value. Considering this point, the determination of S110 is performed. Also, the cigarette 2 having the filter 1 determined to be abnormal in S112 is excluded from the drum 30 in S113. For this exclusion process, a known exclusion device (not shown) (for example, a device that eliminates the compressed air) is used. By removing the cigarette that has been determined to be abnormal as described above, it is possible to avoid the cigarette from being packaged and being put on the market.

As described above, in this inspection process, the probe antenna 23 that transmits the inspection electromagnetic wave and receives the reflected electromagnetic wave is used to inspect the arrangement state of the capsule 1a in the filter 1 using the reflected electromagnetic wave from the filter 1 side. Done. In this way, when performing the reflection type inspection, it is possible to make the space volume required for the inspection as small as possible as compared with the case of performing the transmission type inspection of the prior art, thereby reducing the size of the capsule inspection apparatus. Can be promoted.

Furthermore, in the capsule inspection apparatus, the inspection electromagnetic wave is supplied to the probe antenna 23 and the reflected electromagnetic wave is taken out through the circulator 24. As a result, the inspection electromagnetic wave and the reflected electromagnetic wave are carried by one probe antenna 23. When such a configuration is adopted, the inspection electromagnetic wave and the reflected electromagnetic wave generally pass on the same path in the inspection space between the probe antenna 23 and the filter 1. Therefore, when the inspection electromagnetic wave passes through the filter 1 and is received by the probe antenna 23 as a reflected electromagnetic wave, it passes through the same part of the filter 1, so if the inspection electromagnetic wave passes through the capsule 1a. Thus, the state of the capsule 1a can be strongly reflected in the reflected electromagnetic wave, and the accuracy of the inspection apparatus can be improved.

<Modification 1>
In the above embodiment, the inspection regarding the arrangement state of the capsule 1a in the filter 1 is performed based on the reception intensity of the reflected electromagnetic wave. However, instead of this aspect, the inspection is performed based on the phase shift of the reflected electromagnetic wave. You may go. This phase shift means a phase shift between the inspection electromagnetic wave and the reflected electromagnetic wave. Here, in order to understand the correlation between the frequency and the phase shift of the inspection electromagnetic wave, FIG. 6 shows the transition of the phase shift when the inspection electromagnetic wave of each frequency is used. Specifically, each of (a) to (e) of FIG. 6 corresponds to the frequency of the inspection electromagnetic wave of 22 GHz, 24 GHz, 26 GHz, 28 GHz, and 30 GHz, and the line L5 is the capsule 1a of the filter 1 It is a phase shift transition when the placement state is a normal placement state, and a line L6 is a phase shift transition when the placement state of the capsule 1a in the filter 1 is an abnormal placement state.

As can be understood from FIG. 6, in order to separate the normal arrangement state and the abnormal arrangement state using the phase deviation, when the frequency of the inspection electromagnetic wave is 26 GHz or 28 GHz, the phase deviation and abnormality corresponding to the normal arrangement state It can be found that the difference from the phase shift corresponding to the arrangement state becomes large. Therefore, preferably, inspection processing relating to the arrangement state of the capsule 1a based on the phase shift is performed using inspection electromagnetic waves of 26 GHz or 28 GHz. In addition, since it is thought that the frequency of the suitable test | inspection electromagnetic wave for this test | inspection process changes with the shape of the capsule 1a and the filter 1, a magnitude | size, the component of the fragrance | flavor liquid in the capsule 1a, the material of the filter 1, etc., these The frequency of the inspection electromagnetic wave may be set as appropriate in consideration of factors.

1 Filter 1a Capsule 20 Control Device 23 Probe Antenna 30 Drum 31 Drum Body 31a Metal Side

Claims

A filter inspection device for inspecting pass / fail regarding the arrangement state of a predetermined object to be arranged in a filter for smoking articles,
An irradiation unit that irradiates a target filter that is a filter for a smoking article to be inspected with an inspection electromagnetic wave having a predetermined frequency;
A receiving unit that receives a reflected electromagnetic wave from the target filter by the inspection electromagnetic wave irradiated by the irradiation unit;
An antenna unit that is disposed to face the target filter and propagates the inspection electromagnetic wave and the reflected electromagnetic wave,
Based on the reflection signal obtained by the reception unit, an acquisition unit that acquires predetermined information regarding the intensity of the reflection signal related to the arrangement state of the predetermined arrangement in the target filter, or the phase shift of the reflection signal;
Based on the predetermined information acquired by the acquisition unit, a determination unit that determines pass / fail of the arrangement state of the predetermined arrangement arranged in the target filter;
A filter inspection apparatus.
The antenna unit is formed to transmit the inspection electromagnetic wave to the target filter and receive the reflected electromagnetic wave from the target filter in the same antenna housing.
The filter inspection apparatus according to claim 1.
The predetermined frequency is a frequency belonging to a range of 10 GHz to 100 GHz.
The filter inspection apparatus according to claim 1 or 2.
The predetermined frequency is a frequency belonging to a range of 20 GHz to 30 GHz.
The filter inspection apparatus according to claim 1 or 2.
Arranged on the back of the target filter on the side opposite to the antenna unit, and formed so that the transmitted electromagnetic wave that is a part of the irradiated inspection electromagnetic wave and transmitted through the target filter is reflected again to the target filter side And further comprising a reflected portion,
In addition to the reflected electromagnetic wave from the target filter, the receiving unit is configured to receive a secondary reflected electromagnetic wave that is an electromagnetic wave reflected by the reflective unit.
The filter inspection apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4.
A transport device that transports a plurality of filters for smoking articles on a transport stand, wherein the inspection electromagnetic wave is irradiated to the target filter included in the filter for smoking articles transported by the transport device And further comprising a transfer device arranged with respect to the antenna unit,
The reflecting portion is a predetermined metal member included in the transport table.
The filter inspection apparatus according to claim 5.
The predetermined information is information on the intensity of the reflected signal,
Based on the information on the reference signal strength obtained in advance by irradiating the reference electromagnetic wave having the predetermined frequency with respect to the reference filter, which is a filter for smoking articles, in which the predetermined arrangement is not arranged, the acquisition unit A correction unit that corrects the predetermined information acquired by:
The determination unit determines pass / fail of an arrangement state of the predetermined arrangement arranged in the target filter based on the predetermined information corrected by the correction unit.
The filter inspection apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6.
Irradiation of the inspection electromagnetic wave from the irradiation unit is performed on the target filter being conveyed,
While the target filter passes through a predetermined irradiation range set so as to enable the irradiation of the inspection electromagnetic wave by the irradiation unit and the reception of the reflected electromagnetic wave by the reception unit, the acquisition unit Information on the intensity of the reflected signal, or information on the phase shift of the reflected signal is acquired a plurality of times, and the intensity information with the maximum change in the inspection electromagnetic wave from the acquired intensity information or the phase shift information, or Obtaining the phase shift information having the maximum change with respect to the inspection electromagnetic wave as the predetermined information;
The filter inspection apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7.
The predetermined arrangement is a liquid-filled capsule filled with a predetermined perfume liquid.
The filter inspection apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 8.