Dropping pill machine with controllable dropping pill forming effect and dropping pill preparation method

Abstract

The invention relates to a pill dropping machine with a controllable pill dropping forming effect and a pill dropping preparation method. The pill dropping machine comprises a storage tank, a drip irrigation system, a cooling tank and a control system, the drip irrigation system comprises a water dropper, a plurality of nozzles are arranged below the water dropper, a surface tension adjusting system is arranged on the outer wall of each nozzle in a surrounding mode, when the adjusting amount of each surface tension adjusting system is zero, the bottom end of each surface tension adjusting system is flush with the bottom end of the corresponding nozzle, and each surface tension adjusting system is used for adjusting the maximum outer diameter, making contact with a pill dropping agent, of the corresponding nozzle. The cooling tank is provided with a visual system, the visual system is used for capturing an image of the dripping pill and analyzing the diameter of the dripping pill, and the control system is used for controlling the adjusting amount of the surface tension adjusting system according to the diameter.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to the field of dropping pill machines, and in particular to a dropping pill machine with controllable dropping pill forming effect and a dropping pill preparation method. Background Art

[0002] The pill machine is a device used in the preparation process of spherical food, pharmaceuticals, metals, etc. Its working principle is to place the heated, dissolved, emulsified or diluted pills in the storage tank, and the pills in the storage tank are pushed through the nozzle to form a uniform jet under the action of the micro gear pump. The jet liquid breaks into uniform droplets under the action of gravity, and the droplets condense and shrink to obtain pills of a specific particle size.

[0003] In the process of the pellets passing through the nozzle to form a uniform jet, Figure 1 As shown, the surface tension of the nozzle on the uniform jet will produce an adsorption force on the jet, causing the jet liquid to first converge on the nozzle surface, and after converging to a certain amount, it will separate from the nozzle under the action of gravity and drip. The outer diameter of the nozzle of the existing pill machine is fixed. As the pill machine works, the pills in the storage tank gradually settle under the action of gravity, forming a state of high concentration at the bottom and low concentration at the upper layer, and the concentration of the pills output from the nozzle gradually decreases. After the concentration is reduced, the pills become difficult to be adsorbed by the tension of the nozzle surface, which eventually causes the particle size, roundness, and particle size deviation of the desired pills to gradually deteriorate.

[0004] In view of the above problems existing in the prior art, the purpose of the present invention is to design a drop pill machine and a drop pill preparation method with controllable drop pill forming effect. Summary of the invention

[0005] In view of the problems existing in the above-mentioned prior art, the present invention provides a dropping pill machine and a dropping pill preparation method with controllable dropping pill forming effect, which can effectively solve at least one problem existing in the above-mentioned prior art.

[0006] The technical solution of the present invention is:

[0007] A pill machine with controllable pill forming effect, comprising a material storage tank, a drip irrigation system, a cooling tank, and a control system, wherein the material storage tank is used to store the pills, the drip irrigation system is used to drip the pills, and the cooling tank is arranged below the drip irrigation system to receive the dripping pills and cool and solidify the pills into pills;

[0008] The drip irrigation system includes a dripper, a plurality of nozzles are arranged below the dripper, a surface tension adjustment system is arranged around the outer wall of the nozzle, the bottom end of the surface tension adjustment system is flush with the bottom end of the nozzle when the adjustment amount is 0, and the surface tension adjustment system is used to adjust the maximum outer diameter of the nozzle in contact with the pill;

[0009] The cooling tank is provided with a visual system, which is used to capture the image of the dripping pills and analyze the diameter of the dripping pills, and the control system is used to control the adjustment amount of the surface tension adjustment system according to the diameter.

[0010] Furthermore, a ring-shaped bottom plate is arranged around the bottom surface of the nozzle, and the ratio of the inner diameter of the nozzle adjustment plate to the outer diameter of the ring-shaped bottom plate is 0.5-0.8.

[0011] Furthermore, the surface tension adjustment system comprises an adjustment member and a plurality of adjustment plates, wherein the adjustment plates are hinged to the outer ring of the annular bottom plate in an annular array along the axis of the nozzle, and the adjustment member is used to adjust the adjustment plates to open or close.

[0012] Furthermore, the adjusting member is an airbag, which is driven by a corresponding air pump to be inflated or deflated, and the airbag is arranged around the periphery of the nozzle. After being inflated, the airbag pushes open the adjusting plate, thereby opening the adjusting plate.

[0013] Furthermore, the upper half of the airbag is fixedly arranged on the periphery of the nozzle, and the lower half of the airbag is freely arranged on the periphery of the nozzle. During the inflation of the airbag, the lower half of the airbag first expands radially toward the nozzle, and then expands radially and axially toward the nozzle.

[0014] Furthermore, the control system controls the adjustment amount of the surface tension adjustment system according to the diameter, including: if the diameter is greater than a preset diameter, the opening amount of the adjustment plate is reduced by the adjustment member; if the diameter is less than the preset diameter, the opening amount of the adjustment plate is increased by the adjustment member.

[0015] Furthermore, a coolant is provided in the cooling tank, and the visual system captures the image of the dripping pills above the coolant.

[0016] Further, the visual system analyzes the diameter of the dripping pills through the following steps:

[0017] Performing shape analysis on the image of the pills to extract the contour of the image of the pills;

[0018] The contour is subjected to circular recognition, and the diameter of the dropped pill is output.

[0019] Further provided is a method for preparing a drop pill with a controllable drop pill forming effect: based on the drop pill machine with a controllable drop pill forming effect, the method comprises the following steps:

[0020] The vision system captures an image of the dripping pill and analyzes the diameter of the dripping pill;

[0021] The control system controls an adjustment amount of the surface tension adjustment system according to the diameter.

[0022] Therefore, the present invention provides the following effects and / or advantages:

[0023] The present application uses a tension adjustment system to adjust the surface tension of the nozzle on the pills, thereby changing the adsorption capacity of the pills. By controlling the adjustment amount of the tension adjustment system to adjust the diameter of the output pills, the diameter of the pills can be accurately controlled, so that the particle size uniformity of the manufactured pill particles is better.

[0024] Other features and advantages of the present invention will be described in the following description, and partly become apparent from the description, or understood by practicing the present invention. The purpose and other advantages of the present invention are realized and obtained by the structures particularly pointed out in the description and the drawings.

[0025] It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description of the present invention are exemplary and explanatory and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0026] Figure 1 Schematic diagram of the process of pellets passing through the nozzle to form a uniform jet.

[0027] Figure 2 It is a schematic structural diagram of an embodiment of the present invention.

[0028] Figure 3 Schematic diagram of the nozzle and tension adjustment system.

[0029] Figure 4 for Figure 3 sectional view of .

[0030] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of the working state when the tension adjustment system is fully closed.

[0031] Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram of the working state of the tension adjustment system when it is slightly opened.

[0032] Figure 7 This is a schematic diagram of the working state of the tension adjustment system when it is opened.

[0033] Figure 8 This is a schematic diagram of the working status of the tension adjustment system when it is flipped down.

[0034] Fig. 9 An image of a falling pill.

[0035] Fig.10 for Fig. 9Edge image obtained after shape analysis.

[0036] Fig.11 for Fig.10 The calculated radius of the pill is in mm. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0037] In order to facilitate understanding by those skilled in the art, the structure of the present invention is further described in detail with reference to the embodiments in conjunction with the accompanying drawings:

[0038] refer to Figure 1-4 A pill machine with controllable pill forming effect, comprising a storage tank 1, a drip irrigation system 2, a cooling tank 3, and a control system, wherein the storage tank 1 is used to store the pills, the drip irrigation system 2 is used to drip the pills, and the cooling tank 3 is arranged below the drip irrigation system 2 to receive the dripping pills and cool and solidify the pills into pills;

[0039] In this embodiment, the working process of the pill machine is as follows: the storage tank 1 heats and insulates the pills to keep them in liquid state, and then the pills are output from the drip irrigation system by gravity or a pump body to form droplets that fall into the cooling tank 3, which stores a coolant, thereby solidifying the pills that have been softened after being heated in the storage tank 1 in advance to form a pill-shaped solid. The specific working principle and structure of the pill machine are directly adopted from the prior art and will not be elaborated here.

[0040] The drip irrigation system 2 includes a dripper 201, a plurality of nozzles 202 are arranged below the dripper 201, a surface tension adjustment system 203 is arranged around the outer wall of the nozzle 202, the bottom end of the surface tension adjustment system is flush with the bottom end of the nozzle 202 when the adjustment amount is 0, and the outer diameter adjustment system of the nozzle 202 is used to adjust the maximum outer diameter of the nozzle 202 in contact with the pill;

[0041] In this embodiment, the structure of the nozzle 202 and its adjustment method are one of the core features of the present application. The surface tension adjustment system 203 is arranged around the outer wall of the nozzle 202. The adjustment of the surface tension adjustment system 203 enables the maximum outer diameter of the nozzle 202 in contact with the droplets to be changed. When the outer diameter of the nozzle 202 becomes larger, it has more surface tension, so that it can adsorb a heavier weight of the pills, so that the volume of the pills becomes larger when leaving the nozzle 202, or it can increase the adsorption force on the low-concentration pills, so that the low-concentration pills can maintain the same weight when leaving the nozzle 202. When the adjustment amount of the surface tension adjustment system 203 is 0, the bottom end is flush with the bottom end of the nozzle 202. Therefore, when the adjustment amount of the surface tension adjustment system 203 is 0, the surface tension adjustment system 203 does not affect the maximum outer diameter of the nozzle 202 in contact with the droplets, so that it maintains the original inner diameter to outer diameter ratio.

[0042] The cooling tank 3 is provided with a visual system 4, and the visual system 4 is used to capture the image of the dripping pills and analyze the diameter of the dripping pills. The control system is used to control the adjustment amount of the surface tension adjustment system 203 according to the diameter.

[0043] The visual system 4 is also one of the core components of this embodiment. As mentioned in the background technology, the pills in the storage tank 1 gradually settle under the action of gravity, forming a state where the concentration is high at the bottom and low at the top. The concentration of the output pills gradually decreases, and its ability to adsorb on the bottom of the nozzle 202 also gradually decreases. Therefore, the particle size of the pills prepared by the existing pill machine will gradually decrease. This embodiment obtains the diameter of the pills through visual system analysis, and adjusts the adjustment amount of the surface tension adjustment system 203 in real time according to the diameter, changes the size of the maximum contact outer diameter between the nozzle 202 and the droplet, thereby changing the adsorption force of the nozzle 202 on the pills. The nozzle 202 can generate corresponding adsorption forces according to different concentrations of pills, so that the pills always approach or remain at the preset particle size when leaving the nozzle 202.

[0044] Furthermore, a ring-shaped bottom plate 204 is disposed around the bottom surface of the nozzle 202 , and the ratio of the inner diameter of the nozzle 202 to the outer diameter of the ring-shaped bottom plate 204 is 0.5-0.8.

[0045] In this embodiment, the annular bottom plate 204 is arranged on the bottom surface of the nozzle 202, so that the bottom surface of the nozzle 202 can have a fixed outer diameter, so that the corresponding droplet forming work can be achieved without the need to precisely adjust the maximum outer diameter of the nozzle 202 that contacts the droplets, and provide basic functions such as connection and placement for other subsequent components.

[0046] At the same time, the ratio of the inner diameter of the nozzle 202 to the outer diameter of the annular bottom plate 204 is 0.5-0.8, preferably 0.5, which can make the nozzle 202 and the annular bottom plate 204 have sufficient adsorption force on the pills when the nozzle 202 outputs the pills, and make the adjustment plate 2032 contact the pills after opening and provide corresponding tension to them. Preferably, the inner diameter of the nozzle 202 is 1 mm, and the outer diameter of the annular bottom plate 204 is 2 mm.

[0047] Furthermore, the surface tension adjustment system 203 includes an adjustment member 2031 and a plurality of adjustment plates 2032 . The adjustment plates 2032 are hinged to the outer ring of the annular bottom plate in an annular array along the axis of the nozzle 202 . The adjustment member 2031 is used to adjust the adjustment plates 2032 to open or close.

[0048] The adjusting plate 2032 is connected to the annular bottom plate in an annular manner, so that it can be opened or closed under the drive of the adjusting member 2031. Figure 5As shown, when the adjustment plate 2032 is completely closed, that is, the adjustment amount of the tension adjustment system 203 is 0, the droplets cannot contact the adjustment plate 2332, and the maximum adsorption radius of the droplets provided by the surface tension of the nozzle 202 is R1. Figure 6 As shown, after the adjustment plate 2032 is slightly opened, the adjustment plate 2032 gradually approaches the bottom surface of the nozzle 202 as the adjustment member 2031 is driven, thereby gradually increasing the surface tension of the droplet. The maximum adsorption radius of the droplet provided by the surface tension of the nozzle 202 is R2. Figure 7 As shown, after the adjustment plate is fully opened, the adjustment plate 2032 is flush with the bottom surface of the nozzle 202, thereby providing a greater surface tension. The maximum adsorption radius of the droplet provided by the surface tension of the nozzle 202 is R3. Figure 8 As shown, if the adjustment plate 2032 continues to open, the adjustment plate 2032 begins to swing below the bottom surface of the nozzle 202, and at this time, the adjustment plate 2032 achieves the maximum surface tension from the top and side of the pill.

[0049] Furthermore, the adjusting member 2031 is an airbag, which is driven by a corresponding air pump to be inflated or deflated. The airbag is arranged around the periphery of the nozzle 202 . After being inflated, the airbag pushes open the adjusting plate 2032 , thereby opening the adjusting plate 2032 .

[0050] Furthermore, the upper half of the airbag is fixedly disposed on the periphery of the nozzle 202, and the lower half of the airbag is freely disposed on the periphery of the nozzle 202. During the inflation of the airbag, the lower half of the airbag first expands radially toward the nozzle 202, and then expands radially and axially toward the nozzle 202.

[0051] In this embodiment, the upper part of the airbag is fixedly mounted on the periphery of the nozzle 202 by a U-shaped clamp, so that when the airbag is inflated, the upper part of the airbag can only expand to a certain extent in the radial direction of the nozzle 202, while the lower part of the airbag can expand in the radial direction of the nozzle 202 and in the axial direction of the nozzle 202. Figure 8 , the radial expansion toward the nozzle 202 can open the adjustment plate 2032, and the axial expansion toward the nozzle 202 can swing the adjustment plate 2032 further downward to make it convergent and provide adsorption force on the side of the droplet.

[0052] Furthermore, the control system controls the adjustment amount of the surface tension adjustment system according to the diameter, including: if the diameter is greater than a preset diameter, the opening amount of the adjustment plate 2032 is reduced by the adjustment member 2031; if the diameter is less than the preset diameter, the opening amount of the adjustment plate 2032 is increased by the adjustment member 2031.

[0053] According to the above, increasing the opening amount of the adjustment plate 2032 can increase the maximum outer diameter of the nozzle 202 in contact with the droplets, thereby improving the adsorption force on the droplets. The adjustment amount can be set according to empirically measured data.

[0054] Furthermore, a coolant is provided in the cooling tank 3, and the visual system 4 captures the image of the dripping pills above the coolant.

[0055] The droplet has not been cooled when it is above the coolant and still presents a quasi-circular shape. Acquiring an image of the droplet at this position can prevent the refraction of the coolant from interfering with the visual system 4.

[0056] Furthermore, the visual system 4 analyzes the diameter of the dripping pills through the following steps:

[0057] Performing shape analysis on the image of the pills to extract the contour of the image of the pills;

[0058] The contour is subjected to circular recognition, and the diameter of the dropped pill is output.

[0059] Furthermore, before performing shape analysis on the image of the pills, perform:

[0060] The pills are in the process of dropping, and they are like circles. Fig. 9 The shape analysis algorithm can use existing algorithms such as the Canny algorithm to obtain the following Fig.10 The process of circular recognition of the outline can use the Hough circle detection algorithm, which can obtain the corresponding fitting approximate circle from the image, and can calculate and output the corresponding center, radius and other data, and obtain the following Fig.11 According to the result, the average radius of the pellets prepared in a certain period of time can be calculated, and the surface tension adjustment system can be fed back according to the evaluation radius to obtain the corresponding adjustment amount.

[0061] A method for preparing drop pills with controllable drop pill forming effect is further provided: based on the drop pill machine with controllable drop pill forming effect, the method comprises the following steps:

[0062] The visual system 4 captures the image of the dripping pill and analyzes the diameter of the dripping pill;

[0063] The control system controls the adjustment amount of the surface tension adjustment system 203 according to the diameter.

[0064] The working principle of this embodiment is the same as that of the above-mentioned dropping pill machine with controllable dropping pill forming effect, which will not be repeated here.

[0065] It should be noted that in the claims, any reference signs placed between brackets shall not be construed as limiting the claims. The word "comprising" does not exclude the presence of components or steps not listed in the claim. The word "a" or "an" preceding a component does not exclude the presence of a plurality of such components. The invention may be implemented by means of hardware comprising several different components and by means of a suitably programmed computer. In a unit claim enumerating several means, several of these means may be embodied by the same item of hardware. The use of the words first, second, and third etc. does not indicate any order. These words may be interpreted as names.

[0066] Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described, those skilled in the art may make other changes and modifications to these embodiments once they have learned the basic creative concept. Therefore, the appended claims are intended to be interpreted as including the preferred embodiments and all changes and modifications that fall within the scope of the present invention.

[0067] In the present invention, unless otherwise clearly specified and limited, the terms "installed", "connected", "connected", "fixed" and the like should be understood in a broad sense, for example, it can be a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral connection; it can be a mechanical connection or an electrical connection; it can be a direct connection or an indirect connection through an intermediate medium, it can be the internal connection of two elements or the interaction relationship between two elements. For ordinary technicians in this field, the specific meanings of the above terms in the present invention can be understood according to specific circumstances.

[0068] In the description of this specification, the description with reference to the terms "one embodiment", "some embodiments", "example", "specific example", or "some examples" etc. means that the specific features, structures, materials or characteristics described in conjunction with the embodiment or example are included in at least one embodiment or example of the present invention. In this specification, the schematic representation of the above terms should not be understood as necessarily referring to the same embodiment or example. Moreover, the specific features, structures, materials or characteristics described may be combined in any one or more embodiments or examples in a suitable manner. In addition, those skilled in the art may combine and combine the different embodiments or examples described in this specification and the features of the different embodiments or examples, unless they are contradictory.

Claims

1. A pill machine with controllable pill forming effect, comprising a material storage tank, a drip irrigation system, a cooling tank, and a control system, wherein the material storage tank is used to store the pills, the drip irrigation system is used to drip the pills, and the cooling tank is arranged below the drip irrigation system to receive the dripping pills and cool and solidify the pills into pills; characterized in that: The drip irrigation system includes a dripper, a plurality of nozzles are arranged below the dripper, a surface tension adjustment system is arranged around the outer wall of the nozzle, the bottom end of the surface tension adjustment system is flush with the bottom end of the nozzle when the adjustment amount is 0, and the surface tension adjustment system is used to adjust the maximum outer diameter of the nozzle in contact with the pill; The cooling tank is provided with a visual system, which is used to capture the image of the dripping pills and analyze the diameter of the dripping pills, and the control system is used to control the adjustment amount of the surface tension adjustment system according to the diameter.

2. A pill making machine with controllable pill forming effect according to claim 1, characterized in that: The bottom surface of the nozzle is surrounded by an annular bottom plate, and the ratio of the inner diameter of the nozzle adjustment plate to the outer diameter of the annular bottom plate is 0.5-0.

8.

3. A pill making machine with controllable pill forming effect according to claim 2, characterized in that: The surface tension adjustment system comprises an adjustment member and a plurality of adjustment plates. The adjustment plates are hinged to the outer ring of the annular bottom plate in an annular array along the axis of the nozzle. The adjustment member is used to adjust the adjustment plates to open or close.

4. A pill making machine with controllable pill forming effect according to claim 3, characterized in that: The regulating member is an airbag, which is driven by a corresponding air pump to be inflated or deflated. The airbag is arranged around the periphery of the nozzle. After being inflated, the airbag pushes open the regulating plate to open the regulating plate.

5. A pill making machine with controllable pill forming effect according to claim 4, characterized in that: The upper part of the airbag is fixedly arranged on the periphery of the nozzle, and the lower part of the airbag is freely arranged on the periphery of the nozzle. During the inflation of the airbag, the lower part of the airbag first expands radially toward the nozzle, and then expands radially and axially toward the nozzle.

6. A pill making machine with controllable pill forming effect according to claim 3, characterized in that: The control system controls the adjustment amount of the surface tension adjustment system according to the diameter, including: if the diameter is greater than the preset diameter, the opening amount of the adjustment plate is reduced by the adjustment member; if the diameter is less than the preset diameter, the opening amount of the adjustment plate is increased by the adjustment member.

7. A pill making machine with controllable pill forming effect according to claim 1, characterized in that: A cooling liquid is arranged in the cooling tank, and the visual system captures the image of the dripping pills above the cooling liquid.

8. A pill making machine with controllable pill forming effect according to claim 7, characterized in that: The visual system analyzes the diameter of the falling pills by the following steps: Performing shape analysis on the image of the pills to extract the contour of the image of the pills; The contour is subjected to circular recognition, and the diameter of the dropped pill is output.

9. A method for preparing drop pills with controllable drop pill forming effect: A drop pill machine with controllable drop pill forming effect according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that: The following steps are involved: The vision system captures an image of the dripping pill and analyzes the diameter of the dripping pill; The control system controls an adjustment amount of the surface tension adjustment system according to the diameter.

Images