Capsule appearance inspection device

Abstract

The present application provides a capsule appearance inspection device, which is a device for inspecting the appearance of a capsule (40) in which a cover (42) is fitted to a main body (41), and which includes: a conveying body that conveys the capsule (40) received in a receiving portion (33); a contact body (34) that rotates the conveyed capsule (40) in the receiving portion (33) by contact friction; an imaging device (17) that images the rotating capsule; and a judging device that judges whether the capsule is good or not based on the imaging data of the imaging device (17), the contact body (34) rotates the capsule (40) received in the receiving portion (33) with a gap therebetween around an axis, thereby moving the capsule (40) in the receiving portion (33) toward the main body (41) side, and the judging device judges the direction of the capsule (40) based on the position of the capsule (40) in the receiving portion (33).

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to an appearance inspection device for capsules, and more specifically, to an appearance inspection device for capsules having a cap and a body. Background Technology

[0002] As an apparatus for inspecting the appearance of a hard capsule having a cap and a body, for example, the appearance inspection apparatus disclosed in known Patent Document 1. Figure 7 As shown, the appearance inspection device 50 includes an input hopper 11, a supply hopper 12, a supply cylinder 13, a first direction limiting cylinder 14, a second direction limiting cylinder 15, an inspection cylinder 16, and a camera device 17.

[0003] The capsules fed into the feeding hopper 11 are supplied from the supply hopper 12 to the supply cylinder 13, and then conveyed in an upright state to the first direction limiting cylinder 14 by the supply cylinder 13. The first direction limiting cylinder 14 and the second direction limiting cylinder 15 restrict the direction of the conveyed capsules so that they are in a rolling state with the cap side facing a certain direction, and then supply them to the inspection cylinder 16.

[0004] The inspection cylinder 16 has: a fixed inner cylinder 16a; and an intermittently driven outer cylinder 16b rotatably mounted on the outside of the inner cylinder 16a. The outer cylinder 16b has multiple slots 16c formed by through holes, through which a capsule housed in the slots 16c is conveyed to the shooting position of the imaging device 17 while being held by the outer circumferential surface of the inner cylinder 16a. Inside the inner cylinder 16a at the shooting position, a rotating roller 16d is provided, protruding from the inner cylinder 16a and in contact with the capsule. When the capsule is conveyed to the shooting position, the outer cylinder 16b temporarily stops, and the capsule rotates due to the rotation of the rotating roller 16d. The imaging device 17 has a line sensor camera 17a and an illumination device 17b, which illuminates the entire circumference of the rotating capsule while the line sensor camera 17a captures images. The captured images are judged as good or bad by a good or bad judgment unit (not shown), and good and bad products are collected separately by a discrimination device (not shown) based on the judgment result.

[0005] Existing technical documents

[0006] Patent documents

[0007] Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 10-288583 Summary of the Invention

[0008] The technical problem that the invention aims to solve

[0009] In order to accurately determine whether the capsule captured by the camera device 17 is in good condition, the existing appearance inspection device requires a first direction limiting cylinder 14 and a second direction limiting cylinder 15 to align the capsule's orientation. Therefore, not only does the structure become complicated, but there is also room for improvement in terms of maintenance such as component replacement or cleaning.

[0010] Therefore, the object of the present invention is to provide a capsule appearance inspection device that can easily perform capsule appearance inspection at low cost.

[0011] Technical solutions for solving the problem

[0012] The above-mentioned objective of the present invention is achieved by the following capsule appearance inspection device, which is a device for inspecting the appearance of a capsule with a cap embedded outside a main body. The capsule appearance inspection device includes: a conveying body for conveying a capsule housed in a housing; a contacting body for causing the conveyed capsule to rotate within the housing by contact friction; a camera device for photographing the rotating capsule; and a judging device for determining whether the capsule is in good condition based on the photographing data from the camera device. The contacting body causes the capsule, which is housed in the housing with gaps in the housing, to move the capsule toward the main body side within the housing. The judging device determines the orientation of the capsule based on the position of the capsule in the housing.

[0013] In the capsule appearance inspection device, the judgment device compares the axial center of the capsule contained in the captured data with the center of the imaging area of ​​the camera device to determine the orientation of the capsule.

[0014] The contact body is formed by a roller, and the outer peripheral surface that contacts the capsule is formed flat.

[0015] Invention Effects

[0016] The capsule appearance inspection device according to the present invention enables easy and cost-effective capsule appearance inspection. Attached Figure Description

[0017] Figure 1 This is a schematic structural diagram of a capsule appearance inspection device according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0018] Figure 2 yes Figure 1 Side view of the main part of the device shown.

[0019] Figure 3 yes Figure 1 Enlarged view of the main parts of the device shown.

[0020] Figure 4 It is a schematic representation Figure 3 A diagram of the main parts.

[0021] Figure 5 It is used for explanation Figure 1 A diagram illustrating the method for visually inspecting capsules using the apparatus shown.

[0022] Figure 6 This is an example of a diagram representing captured data.

[0023] Figure 7 This is a schematic diagram of an existing capsule appearance inspection device. Detailed Implementation

[0024] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Figure 1 This is a schematic structural diagram of a capsule appearance inspection device (hereinafter simply referred to as "appearance inspection device") according to one embodiment of the present invention. Figure 1 In the visual inspection device 1 shown, instead of Figure 7 The existing visual inspection device 50 shown has a first direction limiting cylinder 14 and a second direction limiting cylinder 15, but has a junction cylinder 21, and instead of Figure 7 The inspection cylinder 16 shown has a new inspection cylinder 30. The other structures of the appearance inspection device 1 are the same as the existing appearance inspection device 50, therefore... Figure 1 In the visual inspection device 1 shown, the same reference numerals are used to label the same components as in the conventional visual inspection device 50, and detailed descriptions are omitted. The description focuses on the differences from the conventional visual inspection device 50. Like the conventional visual inspection device 50, the visual inspection device 1 of this embodiment is applicable to the inspection of hard capsules such as powdered or liquid medicines and food that are encased in a cover outside the main body.

[0025] like Figure 2 As shown, in the transfer cylinder 21, multiple storage pockets 21a are formed in a manner arranged axially and circumferentially on the outer peripheral surface. Each storage pocket 21a is formed laterally along the rotation axis of the transfer cylinder 21, with the axial direction of the stored capsule (the fitting direction of the body and the cap) in the direction of rotation. The capsule supplied from the supply cylinder 13 is transferred to the transfer cylinder 21 in a horizontal position. Figure 1 The capsules are fed into the receiving pocket of the transfer tube 21, which rotates in the direction of the arrow, and then into the inspection tube 30. In addition, during the process of supplying from the supply tube 13 to the inspection tube 30 via the transfer tube 21, compressed air can be supplied from the supply side of the capsules to ensure smooth transfer between the tubes, and vacuum suction can be performed on the supply side of the capsules.

[0026] Since the transfer tube 21 does not require the capsule to be aligned in the same direction as the existing first direction limiting tube 14 and second direction limiting tube 15, it can be a structure with only a receiving pocket 21a. Therefore, by replacing the first direction limiting tube 14 and second direction limiting tube 15 with the transfer tube 21 in the existing appearance inspection device 50, the structure can be simplified, manufacturing costs can be reduced, and maintenance can be made easier.

[0027] By using a supply device capable of supplying capsules in a horizontal position to the capsules in the inspection cylinder 30, the capsules can also be supplied directly from the supply device to the inspection cylinder 30.

[0028] Figure 3 yes Figure 1 An enlarged view of the inspection cylinder 30 shown. (As shown) Figure 3 As shown, the inspection cylinder 30 has: a fixed cylindrical inner cylinder 31; and a cylindrical conveyor 32 that is rotated along the outer periphery of the inner cylinder 31. The conveyor 32 is connected to the receiving slot 21a of the receiving cylinder 21 (see reference). Figure 2 Correspondingly, it has a plurality of storage portions 33 formed by through holes. Similar to the storage slot 21a of the transfer cylinder 21, the storage portions 33 are formed in a horizontally elongated rectangular shape such that the axial direction of the stored capsule 40 is along the rotation axis of the conveyor body 32. The conveyor body 32 carries the capsule 40, which is being transported horizontally from the transfer cylinder 21 along the guide plate 22, in a horizontal position, and stores it in the storage portions 33 while maintaining its original posture, and then transports it along the outer peripheral surface of the inner cylinder 31 to the shooting position P. The size of the storage portions 33 is preferably such that a gap can be created between the inner wall of the storage portion 33 and the outer surface of the capsule 40, especially regarding the axial direction of the capsule 40, ensuring a gap large enough to determine the degree of movement of the capsule 40 (described later). The shape of the storage portions 33 is not particularly limited; besides a rectangular shape, it can also be, for example, an elongated elliptical shape.

[0029] The inspection cylinder 30 also has a contact body 34, which rotates by contacting and rubbing against the capsule 40 that is being transported to the imaging position P. The contact body 34 is composed of a roller that is driven to rotate independently of the transport body 32, and is configured such that its flat outer peripheral surface is exposed to the outside through a window formed in the inner cylinder 31.

[0030] Figure 1 The line sensor camera 17a of the imaging device 17 shown captures images that are transported to... Figure 3 The capsule 40 of the camera device P shown outputs the captured data to the judgment device 20. The judgment device 20 determines whether the capsule 40 is good or bad based on the captured data, and controls the injection of compressed air from the nozzle (not shown) according to the judgment result, thereby distributing the capsule 40 to the good product recycling chute 35 and the defective product recycling bin 36.

[0031] like Figure 4 As shown in the schematic diagram, the capsule 40 housed in the storage section 33 is intermittently driven by the conveyor 32 and transported to the shooting position P, where it temporarily stops. The contact body 34, exposed through the window 31a of the inner cylinder 31, rotates in the direction of the arrow, thereby generating contact friction between the contact body 34 and the lower part of the capsule 40, causing the capsule 40 to rotate about the axis indicated by the arrow. The rotating capsule 40 is photographed by the line sensor camera 17a, capturing a full circumference of the capsule 40. When the photographing ends, the drive of the conveyor 32 is restarted, and the next capsule 40 is transported to the shooting position P. In this way, the shooting data of the sequentially transported capsules 40 can be acquired individually.

[0032] In this embodiment, since the capsule 40 is not oriented before being supplied to the storage section 33, the orientation of the capsule 40 stored in the storage section 33 is random. For example, Figure 5 As shown in (a), with the capsule 40 housed in the storage section 33 with the main body 41 on the left and the cover 42 on the right, when the contact body 34 rotates in the direction indicated by arrow A, the main body 41 and the cover 42 come into contact with the contact body 34, and the capsule 40 rotates about the axial direction (about the fitting direction of the main body 41 and the cover 42) as shown by arrow B. Since the outer diameter of the main body 41 is smaller than the outer diameter of the cover 42, the rotating capsule 40... Figure 5 As indicated by the arrow in (b), it moves to the left (towards the main body 41) within the storage section 33.

[0033] On the other hand, such as Figure 5 As shown in (c), with the capsule 40 housed in the storage section 33 with the main body 41 on the right and the cover 42 on the left, when the contact body 34 rotates in the direction indicated by arrow A, the capsule 40 rotates as shown by arrow B. Figure 5 As indicated by arrow (d), it moves to the right (towards the main body 41) within the storage section 33.

[0034] As such, since the outer diameters of the main body 41 and the cover 42 are different, the rotating capsule 40 always moves towards the main body 41. Therefore, by taking a photograph of the entire circumference of the moved capsule 40, the orientation of the capsule 40 can be accurately determined based on its position within the storage section 33. The cross-sectional shape of the portion of the main body 41 and the cover 42 that contacts the contact body 34 is preferably circular, but it can also be elliptical or polygonal. The outer peripheral surface of the contact body 34 that contacts the capsule 40 is preferably formed flat, so that the capsule 40 can reliably contact both the main body 41 and the cover 42 regardless of its orientation. To ensure reliable contact between the capsule 40 and the contact body 34, it is preferable to perform vacuum suction inside the inner cylinder 31 to attract the capsule 40 towards the contact body 34.

[0035] Figure 6 This is an example of a graph showing the shooting data obtained from a full cycle of shooting capsule 40. For example... Figure 6 As shown in (a), the capsule 40 is stored in the storage section 33 with the main body 41 on the left and the cover 42 on the right (see reference). Figure 5 In case (a), since capsule 40 moves to the left, the center line C2 (dashed line) passing through the center of the axis (left-right direction in the figure) of capsule 40 is to the left compared to the center line C1 (dashed line) passing through the center of the camera area. On the other hand, as Figure 6 As shown in (b), the capsule 40 is stored in the storage section 33 with the main body 41 on the right and the cover 42 on the left (see reference). Figure 5 In case (c), since capsule 40 moves to the right, the center line C2 (dashed line) of the center of the axial direction (left-right direction in the figure) of capsule 40 is on the right side, compared to the center line C1 (dashed line) passing through the center of the camera area. Since the center of the camera area is always fixed, the center of the axial direction of capsule 40 can be calculated by extracting the image of capsule 40 contained in the image data. Therefore, by comparing the positions of their respective centers, the position of the capsule in the storage unit 33 can be accurately determined, thereby reliably judging the orientation of capsule 40.

[0036] The method for determining the orientation of capsule 40 is not limited to the methods described above. For example, instead of calculating the axial center of capsule 40, the boundary line between the main body 41 and the cover 42 can be compared with the center line of the imaging area. Alternatively, the orientation of capsule 40 can be determined by comparing the sizes of the margin portions M1 and M2 generated on the left and right sides of capsule 40 in the captured data. Or, by installing sensors at both ends of the storage section 33 and using these sensors to detect the position of capsule 40 within the storage section 33, the direction of movement of capsule 40 can be determined. Based on these methods, the orientation of capsule 40 can be accurately determined even when the colors of the main body 41 and the cover 42 are the same or similar, or when there is no printing on the main body 41 and the cover 42, or when the printed content is the same or similar.

[0037] The judgment device 20 determines whether the capsule contained in the image data is in good condition based on the determined direction of the capsule. For example, when the inspection conditions are set with the main body 41 on the left side of the capsule 40, if the actual direction of the capsule 40 is the same as the expected direction of the inspection conditions, the inspection can be performed as is. On the other hand, if the actual direction of the capsule 40 is opposite to the expected direction of the inspection conditions, the captured data is reversed left and right before inspection. Thus, the inspection can be performed with the same inspection conditions regardless of the direction of the capsule 40.

[0038] In this embodiment, the conveying method for transporting the capsule 40 by the conveyor 32 is a rotary conveying method, but it can also be a linear conveying method, etc. In addition, the contact body 34 in this embodiment is formed as a roller that rotates the capsule 40 by rotation, but it can also be a structure that rotates the capsule 40 by linear motion or oscillating motion of a belt or plate that generates contact friction with the capsule 40.

[0039] Explanation of reference numerals in the attached figures

[0040] 1. Appearance inspection device for capsules

[0041] 17. Camera device

[0042] 20 Judgment Device

[0043] 30 Inspection cylinder

[0044] 32 Conveyor

[0045] 33 Storage Department

[0046] 34 Contact bodies

[0047] 40 capsules

[0048] 41 Main Body

[0049] 42. Cover.

Claims

1. A capsule appearance inspection device for inspecting the appearance of a capsule with a cap embedded in its body, characterized in that it comprises: A junction box containing storage pockets for holding capsules; A conveyor for conveying from the transfer tube a capsule that is supplied in a horizontal position and stored in a receiving section; A contact body that causes the transported capsule to rotate within the receiving section through contact friction; A camera device for filming rotating capsules; and A device for determining whether a capsule is good or bad based on the data captured by the camera device. The contact body moves the capsule toward the main body within the storage section by rotating the capsule, which is spaced apart in the storage section, about its axial direction. The determining device determines the orientation of the capsule based on the position of the capsule in the storage section. The contact body is composed of rollers, and its outer peripheral surface that contacts the capsule is formed flat.

2. The capsule appearance inspection device as described in claim 1, characterized in that: The determining device compares the axial center of the capsule contained in the captured data with the center of the imaging area of ​​the camera device to determine the orientation of the capsule.

Images