JPH04274Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] The present invention is a method for optically inspecting the filling amount of capsule contents to determine whether the filling amount of medicine powder, etc., has reached a predetermined amount. This relates to improvements in equipment.

In general, after manufacturing pharmaceutical capsules, etc., before shipping from the factory, the appearance is inspected using an appearance inspection device, and those with defects such as scratches, dirt, deformation, etc. on the surface are rejected as defective products, and good products are further inspected. An inspection is performed to see whether the filling content is within a predetermined amount range, but such filling amount inspection is
The present inventor has already proposed that this be carried out using an optical filling amount inspection device that is integrally provided in addition to the appearance inspection device.

FIG. 1 is a front view of the above-mentioned capsule appearance inspection apparatus. In the figure, 1 is the inspection device main body, 2
is a hopper storing capsules, 3 is a supply drum, 4 is a first inspection drum, 5 is a second inspection drum,
6 is a defective product chute, 7 is a non-defective product chute, 8 is a sensor, 9 is a negative pressure chamber in the drum, 12 and 13 are drum cleaning brushes, 14 is a capsule, and 15 is a scraping brush.

In FIG. 1, capsules stored in the hopper 2 and provided around the supply drum 3 are first transferred to pockets provided around the supply drum 3 as capsules 14. At this time, remove the capsules that do not fit into your pocket with brush 1.
5, it is scraped back into the hopper 2 again. The capsules transported by the rotating supply drum 3 are then transferred to pockets provided around the periphery of the first inspection drum 4 in the same manner as in the supply drum 3. FIG. 1A is a top view showing the capsule 14 accommodated in the pocket 19 provided around the first inspection drum 4. FIG. At this time, pocket 1
Since negative pressure is applied to the capsule 9 by the negative pressure chamber 9, the capsule 14 is sucked into the pocket 19.
Even if the drum 4 rotates, the capsule 14 will not fall.

Returning to FIG. 1, while the capsule is being transported by a half-circle distance by the rotation of the first inspection drum 4 while being sucked into the negative pressure chamber 9, light is projected by means not shown, and the reflected light is The appearance of the lower half is inspected by receiving it with the sensor 8. Next, the capsule is transferred to a pocket around the second inspection drum 5, and while being sucked into the negative pressure chamber 9, the appearance inspection is performed on the upper half of the capsule in the same manner. As a result of the inspection, if the product is in good condition, it is a good product.
If the products are defective, they are sorted to the defective product chute 6.

FIG. 2 is a side view showing the concept of a conventional optical filling amount inspection device according to an existing proposal, and FIG. 2A is a top view of the same. In these figures, 3 is the supply drum;
4 is a first inspection drum, 14 is a capsule held in a peripheral pocket of drum 3 and transported, 20 is a guide plate, 21a is a transmitted light sensor, and 21b is a light emitter.

The outline of the operation is as follows. Light is projected from the light emitter 21b toward the sensor 21a through the guide plate 20. By measuring the length of time that this light passes through the capsule, the amount of powder filled in the capsule is tested.

The guide plate 20 also serves as a fall prevention cover to prevent capsules from falling from the supply drum 3 and getting caught in the inspection drum 4, and a protective cover to prevent foreign objects from coming into contact with the capsules. It is. Furthermore, since two rows of capsule holding pockets are arranged around the drum 3, two sets of light emitters 21b and transmitted light sensors 21a are also prepared.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing details of the main structure of FIG. 2, and FIG. 3A is a front view thereof. In these figures, 3 is a supply drum, 19 is a holding pocket for the capsule 14 provided around the supply drum 3,
19A is a bottom groove (slit) of the pocket for transmitting light, 20 is a guide plate, 21b is a light emitter, 21a is a transmitted light sensor, and 23 is the upper surface of the powder that is the filling in the capsule 14. be.

In FIG. 3, the pocket 19 of the supply drum 3
The capsule 14 held in the drum 3 is conveyed as the drum 3 rotates, and is exposed to the light emitter 21b and the transmitted light sensor 2.
1a and reaches the inspection position sandwiched between the two. Here, from the light emitter 21b to the capsule 14 and the pocket 19
Light reaching the sensor 21a through the bottom groove 19A of the capsule 14 is blocked by the filling (powder in this case) in the capsule 14. Therefore, the amount of powder filled was tested by measuring the length of time that this light passed through the capsule.

The conventional filling amount inspection apparatus as described above has the following problems. In other words, the capsules held in pockets around the drum are transported as the drum rotates, but the second
As is clear from the figure, when the capsule is located at the top of the drum 3, the capsule is lying horizontally. However, as the drum rotates, the capsule gradually rises up as it is transported to the side of the drum, and eventually transfers to the inspection drum 4 in a vertical position.

When inspecting the quantity of the filling inside the capsule using the optical method described above, the capsule should be placed in a vertical position as much as possible, and the surface that forms the boundary between the filling inside the capsule and the unfilled space should be horizontal. It is desirable to position it clearly in order to ensure the accuracy of the test.

However, as can be seen in FIG. 3, the top surface 23 of the powder that is the filling inside the capsule 14 is not always as wide as allowed due to friction between the powder particles, although there are differences depending on the type of powder. Instead of being a horizontal plane, it becomes diagonal. For this reason, the transmitted light sensor 21a can distinguish between a case where the powder is only about 50% in the capsule and a case where the powder is about 80% filled.
There was a drawback that it was not possible to measure the light transmission time using the method. In other words, conventional inspection equipment could only differentiate cases where the capsule was filled with a small amount of powder (less than 10%) from cases where the capsule was filled with more than 80%.

The present invention has been made to improve the drawbacks of the prior art as described above, and therefore, the purpose of the present invention is to test the filling amount in a capsule with higher accuracy while using the same optical method. The goal is to provide equipment.

The key point of the present invention is that a device for inspecting the filling amount of packed contents of a capsule is provided with a vibration imparting means that vibrates the capsule being transported, and the capsule is transported and positioned between a light emitter and a light receiver in a substantially vertical posture. The point is that the filling inside is leveled out horizontally when removed.

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 4 is a side sectional view showing a main part of an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 24 is a toothed roller (or brush).

In FIG. 4, the capsule 14 is struck through a slot provided in the guide plate 20 by the teeth of a toothed roller (or brush) 24 that rotates in synchronization with the rotational speed of the drum 3 to give vibration. When striking using a brush instead of a roller, the rotational speed of the brush does not need to be synchronized with the rotational speed of the drum 3. According to this method, there is a vibration imparting effect,
Although the upper surface 23 of the powder is horizontal, since the capsule is directly struck, there is a risk of damaging the surface of the capsule, which is a drawback.

FIG. 5 is a side sectional view showing the main parts of another embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 25 is a vibrator, and 26 is an extrusion process (rib) applied to the guide plate 20.

In FIG. 5, the guide plate 20 is partially extruded 26 so as to lightly contact the capsule 14 held in the pocket of the drum 3, and the vibrator 25 is used to attach the capsule 14 to the guide plate 20 through the extrusion 26. Gives vibration. This makes the upper surface 23 of the powder horizontal. Such vibration imparting means is effective against viscous powders, granules, etc., and has a wide range of applications.

FIG. 6 is a side sectional view showing the main parts of yet another embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 27 is a nozzle;
28 indicates air.

In FIG. 6, the air 28 blown out from the nozzle 27 at the right timing is sent to the bottom groove 19 of the pocket.
Vibration is applied by spraying the powder onto the capsule 14 through A, and the upper surface 23 of the powder is leveled.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view showing the main parts of still another embodiment of the present invention.

In the figure, a light emitter 21b and a transmitted light sensor 21a are placed across the contact area between the supply drum 3 and the first inspection drum 4, and the capsules 14 conveyed by the drum 3 are placed in a negative position at the contact area. The upper surface 23 of the powder is leveled by using the vibrations that the capsule receives when being sucked into the pocket of the inspection drum 4 having the pressure chamber 9. This method is effective for capsules containing granules.

According to the present invention, by applying vibration to the capsule and leveling the filled contents in a horizontal plane, it is possible to improve the accuracy of inspecting the quantity of the contents using an optical method. Normally, a normal capsule has a content of 90
% or more, and those that are less than 50% filled are judged to be defective because they have little medicinal efficacy, and the inspection device according to the present invention is extremely effective for such applications.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a front view of a conventionally known capsule appearance inspection device, Fig. 1A is a top view showing capsules housed in a pocket on the drum surface, and Fig. 2 is a side view showing the concept of a conventional optical filling amount inspection device. 2A is a top view of the same, FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing details of the main structure of FIG. 2, FIG. 3A is a front view of the same, and FIGS. 4 to 7 are each an embodiment of the present invention It is a side sectional view showing the main part of an example. Description of symbols, 1... Inspection device main body, 2... Hopper, 3... Supply drum, 4... First inspection drum,
5...Second inspection drum, 6...Defective product chute,
7... Good chute, 8... Sensor, 9... Negative pressure chamber in the drum, 12, 13... Drum cleaning brush, 14... Capsule, 15... Scraping back brush, 19... Pocket, 19A... Pocket bottom groove, 20...guide plate, 21a...transmitted light sensor, 21b...light emitter, 23...surface of powder, 2
4... Toothed roller, 25... Vibrator, 2
6...Rib, 27...Nozzle, 28...Air.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] A rotating drum that holds and transports capsules in pockets provided at its periphery, a slit provided at the bottom of the pocket, and a position where the capsules transported by the rotating drum assume a substantially vertical posture as the drum rotates. It consists of a light emitter and a light receiver that are placed opposite each other across a capsule conveyance path in the vicinity of the capsule conveyance path. However, in a filling amount inspection device that inspects the filling amount in a capsule based on this light reception time length, a vibration imparting means for applying vibration to the capsule being transported is provided, and when the capsule is being transported, the light emitting device and the light receiving device are connected to each other. 1. A filling amount inspection device for capsule filling contents, characterized in that when the device is positioned between the capsules and takes a substantially vertical posture, the filling therein is leveled in a horizontal direction.