Alignment and conveyance device

Abstract

An alignment conveyance device 1 comprises a first conveyance device 10 and a second conveyance device 20 that sequentially adsorbs solid preparations P being conveyed by the first conveyance device 10 from above and conveys the solid preparations P in an aligned state. The second conveyance device 20 is equipped with: an endless belt body 23 that is wound around a first pulley 21 and a second pulley 22 and conveys the solid preparations P; and a guide member 24 that is disposed along the conveyance direction of the belt body 23. The guide member 24 is equipped with a suction unit 25 that sucks the solid preparations P through an opening in the belt body 23 and thereby adsorbs the solid preparations P onto the belt body 23. The suction unit 25 is provided so that the solid preparations P are adsorbed onto the belt body 23 near the lower portion of the first pulley 21 and conveyed in a straight line in the adsorbed state.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an alignment conveying device, and more particularly to an alignment conveying device that conveys solid preparations such as tablets and capsules in an aligned state. [Background technology]

[0002] A known conventional aligning and conveying device is one disclosed in Patent Document 1. As shown in Fig. 13, this aligning and conveying device 50 includes a rotary disk 51, a first ring 52, and a second ring 53, each of which is independently rotated in the direction of the arrow, so that solid articles P supplied onto the rotary disk 51 are subjected to centrifugal force and move to the upper part of the peripheral wall of the second ring 53 via the upper part of the peripheral wall of the first ring 52. The solid articles P conveyed by the second ring 53 are attracted to the outer peripheral surface of a suction roller 54 and conveyed upward. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 6503525 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] In the above-mentioned conventional alignment and conveying device 50, the solid preparations P conveyed by the suction roller 54 move in an arc along the rotation direction of the suction roller 54, making it difficult to perform printing or visual inspection on the solid preparations P from both axial sides of the suction roller 54, and there was room for improvement in terms of improving the handleability of the conveyed solid preparations P.

[0005] SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an aligning and conveying device that aligns and conveys solid preparations so that they can be easily handled. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The object of the present invention is to provide a solid preparation delivery system comprising: a first conveying device which is provided with a rotating ring whose rotation axis is arranged to extend in the vertical direction and which has a conveying section at its upper part, and which aligns solid preparations on the conveying section and conveys them in the direction of rotation of the rotating ring; and a second conveying device which sequentially picks up the solid preparations conveyed by the first conveying device from above and conveys them in an aligned state, the second conveying device comprising a first pulley and a second pulley, an endless belt wound around the first pulley and the second pulley to convey the solid preparations, and a guide member arranged along the conveying direction of the belt, the belt having openings formed continuously or intermittently along its longitudinal direction, the guide member having a suction section which sucks the solid preparations through the openings and thereby adsorbs them onto the belt, the suction section being configured to suck the solid preparations onto the belt when the solid preparations are adsorbed onto the belt in the vicinity of a lower part of the first pulley. At the bottom of Adsorbed and rise The object is transported linearly while being attracted to the object. The straight portion of the belt body located between the first pulley and the second pulley is inclined obliquely upward from the first pulley toward the second pulley below the first pulley and the second pulley, and further includes a cover portion interposed between the solid preparations transported by the first transport device and the belt body, and the cover portion is arranged to cover the solid preparations transported by the first transport device from above so that the solid preparations transported by the first transport device are not adsorbed onto the belt body before reaching the bottom of the belt body. This is achieved by an alignment conveying device.

[0007] In this aligning and conveying device, the diameter of the second pulley is preferably smaller than the diameter of the first pulley.

[0008] Furthermore, it is preferable that the speed at which the second conveying device conveys the solid preparations is faster than the speed at which the first conveying device conveys the solid preparations. [Effects of the Invention]

[0009] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an aligning and conveying device that aligns and conveys solid preparations so that they can be easily handled. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1] 1 is a schematic front view of an aligning and conveying device according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA in FIG. 1. [Figure 3] 2 is a plan view of a main part of the aligning and conveying device shown in FIG. [Figure 4]FIG. 10 is a schematic front view of an aligning and conveying device according to another embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 5] FIG. 5 is a side view of a main part of the aligning and conveying device shown in FIG. [Figure 6] FIG. 10 is a schematic front view of an aligning and conveying device according to another embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 7] FIG. 7 is a plan view of a main part of the aligning and conveying device shown in FIG. [Figure 8] FIG. 7 is an enlarged view of a main part of FIG. 6. [Figure 9] FIG. 8 is an enlarged view of a main part of FIG. 7. [Figure 10] FIG. 10 is a schematic front view of an aligning and conveying device according to still another embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 11] FIG. 10 is a schematic front view of an aligning and conveying device according to still another embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 12] FIG. 10 is a schematic front view of an aligning and conveying device according to still another embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 13] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a conventional alignment and conveyance device. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0011] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Fig. 1 is a schematic front view of an aligning and conveying device according to one embodiment of the present invention. As shown in Fig. 1, the aligning and conveying device 1 includes a first conveying device 10 and a second conveying device 20.

[0012] Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 is a plan view of the main parts of the aligning and conveying device 1 shown in Fig. 1. As shown in Fig. 2 and Fig. 3, the first conveying device 10 has a configuration similar to that of the aligning and conveying device disclosed in the above-mentioned Patent Document 1, and includes a shade-shaped disk 11, an intermediate ring 12 that houses the disk 11, and a rotating ring 13 that houses the intermediate ring 12.

[0013] Rotation axes 11a, 13a of disk 11 and rotating ring 13 extend vertically, while rotation axis 12a of intermediate ring 12 is disposed at a slight incline relative to rotation axes 11a, 13a. Rotation axes 11a, 12a, 13a are connected to individual drive sources (not shown) such as motors via reducers 11b, 12b, 13b, respectively, and disk 11, intermediate ring 12, and rotating ring 13 can each be driven to rotate independently.

[0014] Conveying portions 12c, 13c are respectively formed along the circumferential direction on the upper portions of intermediate ring 12 and rotatable ring 13. Conveying portion 13c of rotatable ring 13 is covered on the radially outer side by a ring-shaped protrusion 13d.

[0015] The second conveying device 20 includes a first pulley 21 and a second pulley 22, whose respective rotation axes 21a, 22a are horizontally disposed, an endless belt 23 wound around the first pulley 21 and the second pulley 22, and a guide member 24 disposed along the conveying direction of the belt 23. The diameter of the second pulley 22 is smaller than the diameter of the first pulley 21. A straight portion of the belt 23 located between the first pulley 21 and the second pulley 22 is horizontal above the first pulley 21 and the second pulley 22 and is inclined below the first pulley 21 and the second pulley 22.

[0016] 2, the first pulley 21 is configured by two disks 21b and 21c connected by a rotary shaft 21a with a gap between them. The second pulley 22 also has two disks connected by a rotary shaft 22a with a gap between them, similar to the first pulley 21. In this embodiment, the first pulley 21 is a drive pulley connected to a drive motor (not shown), and the second pulley 22 is a driven pulley, but the first pulley 21 may be a driven pulley and the second pulley 22 may be a drive pulley.

[0017] The belt body 23 includes two belt-shaped conveyor belts 23a and 23b, which are wound around the discs 21b and 21c of the first pulley 21. An opening 23c, which is a fine gap, is formed between the two conveyor belts 23a and 23b over the entire circumference of the belt body 23. The conveyor belts 23a and 23b may be flat belts made of a soft material such as silicone rubber, but a V-belt, a toothed belt, or the like may also be used.

[0018] 1, the guide member 24 includes a straight portion 24a disposed immediately below the vicinity of the belt 23 extending horizontally between the first pulley 21 and the second pulley 22, and arc portions 24b and 24c provided on both sides of the straight portion 24a in the conveying direction. The arc portions 24b and 24c are inserted between two disks provided on the first pulley 21 and the second pulley 22, respectively, and are curved in an arc shape along the belt 23 wound around the first pulley 21 and the second pulley 22.

[0019] 2, the guide member 24 is formed in a hollow cylindrical shape, and a slit-shaped suction section 25 is formed along the opening 23c at the portion of the guide member 24 facing the opening 23c of the belt body 23. The inside of the guide member 24 can be depressurized by operating a vacuum pump (not shown), and the solid preparation P can be sucked into the suction section 25 through the opening 23c of the belt body 23, so that the solid preparation P can be conveyed together with the belt body 23 while being adsorbed to the belt body 23. In this embodiment, the opening 23c of the belt body 23 is formed continuously along the longitudinal direction between the two conveyor belts 23a, 23b, but the belt body 23 may be a single belt-like belt, and circular, elliptical, slit-shaped, or other openings may be formed intermittently along the longitudinal direction of the belt-like belt.

[0020] According to the aligning and conveying device 1 having the above configuration, when a plurality of solid preparations P such as tablets or capsules are supplied onto the disk 11 while the disk 11, intermediate ring 12, and rotatable ring 13 of the first conveying device 10 are rotated in the same direction, the solid preparations P are subjected to centrifugal force and move to the conveying section 13c of the rotatable ring 13 via the conveying section 12c of the intermediate ring 12. In this way, the solid preparations P can be aligned in a row in the conveying section 13c and conveyed in the rotation direction of the rotatable ring 13 (the direction of arrow B in FIG. 3 ). The rotational speeds of the disk 11, intermediate ring 12, and rotatable ring 13 are preferably set so that the rotational speed of the disk 11 is the slowest and the rotational speed of the rotatable ring 13 is the fastest, thereby facilitating reliable aligned conveyance of the solid preparations P by the rotatable ring 13.

[0021] The first conveying device 10 may be configured to align the solid preparations P on the conveying section 13c of the rotating ring 13 and convey them in the rotation direction of the rotating ring 13, and may be configured, for example, without providing the intermediate ring 12, so that the rotation axes of the disk 11 and the rotating ring 13 are inclined relative to each other and the solid preparations P supplied onto the disk 11 are directly moved to the conveying section 13c of the rotating ring 13. The rotation axis 13a of the rotating ring 13 is preferably arranged along the vertical direction as in this embodiment, but may be arranged to extend in the up-down direction, and for example, the rotation axis 13a may be slightly inclined relative to the vertical direction.

[0022] The solid preparations P aligned and conveyed by the first conveying device 10 toward the second conveying device 20 are successively attracted to the belt body 23 near the lower part of the first pulley 21 by the suction of the suction part 25, rise, and are conveyed linearly above the first pulley 21 and the second pulley 22 in the direction of arrow C in Fig. 3 while remaining in the attracted state. In this way, the solid preparations P aligned by the first conveying device 10 can be conveyed linearly by the second conveying device 20 while maintaining the aligned state, thereby improving the handleability of the conveyed solid preparations P.

[0023] In addition, in this embodiment, by making the diameter of the second pulley 22 smaller than the diameter of the first pulley 21, the belt body 23 located below the first pulley 21 and the second pulley 22 is inclined obliquely upward from the first pulley 21 toward the second pulley 22, so that interference between the solid preparations P aligned in the conveying section 13c of the rotating ring 13 and the belt body 23 can be easily avoided.

[0024] At the transfer position of the solid preparations P from the rotating ring 13 to the belt body 23, it is preferable that the conveying direction by the rotating ring 13 and the conveying direction by the belt body 23 coincide as in this embodiment, thereby ensuring the transfer of the solid preparations P. Furthermore, by making the conveying speed of the solid preparations P by the belt body 23 faster than the conveying speed of the solid preparations P by the rotating ring 13, the alignment pitch of the solid preparations P conveyed in an aligned manner by the belt body 23 can be widened, and the handleability of the solid preparations P conveyed in a straight line can be further improved.

[0025] While the linear transport of solid articles P is not particularly limited, the aligning and conveying device 1 of this embodiment includes an appearance inspection device 30 that performs an appearance inspection of solid articles P linearly conveyed by the second conveying device 20. The appearance inspection device 30 includes a sensor 31 that detects the approach of solid articles P conveyed by the second conveying device 20, and imaging devices 32 and 33 that capture images of both horizontal sides of the solid articles P detected by the sensor 31. By maintaining the solid articles P in a state where they are adsorbed to the belt body 23 until the imaging positions of the imaging devices 32 and 33, accurate side inspection of the solid articles P can be performed. Alternatively, printing devices can be provided in place of the imaging devices 32 and 33 to print on the sides, etc., of solid articles P. Printing on solid articles P conveyed in an arc distorts the printed design along the arc, requiring complex correction processing. On the other hand, printing using the linear transport of this embodiment eliminates such correction processing, thereby improving the handleability of the solid articles P. The method of printing on the sides, etc., is not limited to that described in the above embodiment. For example, by providing the imaging devices 32 and 33 and arranging printing devices on both sides of the solid article P in the horizontal direction, it is possible to print on the side surfaces of the solid article P, etc.

[0026] The suction section 25 may be formed from the position where the solid article P is sucked onto the belt body 23 in the arcuate section 24b of the guide member 24 to a necessary portion of the straight section 24a (for example, a portion where the visual inspection of the solid article P or printing is completed), and does not necessarily have to be formed over the entire longitudinal direction of the guide member 24. After the visual inspection, the solid article P falls from the belt body 23, is discharged from the discharge chute 100 shown in Fig. 1, and is sent to the next process.

[0027] 1 can also be configured to utilize linear transport of solid articles P by adding a clamping conveying device 40, as shown in FIG. 4. The clamping conveying device 40 includes a third pulley 41, a fourth pulley 42, and a clamping belt 43 wound around the third pulley 41 and the fourth pulley 42 to clamp the solid articles P, and the clamping belt 43 can be made to travel in the direction of the arrow by driving the third pulley 41 or the fourth pulley 42. The appearance inspection device 30 includes, in addition to the sensor 31 and the imaging devices 32 and 33 shown in FIG. 1, imaging devices 34 and 35 that capture images of the solid articles P clamped by the clamping belt 43 from both above and below.

[0028] As shown in the side view of Figure 5, the sandwiching belt 43 is made up of two endless belts 43a and 43b, with a gap 44 formed between the endless belts 43a and 43b. The third pulley 41 is provided with a gap adjustment member 45 that is interposed in the gap 44 of the sandwiching belt 43. The gap adjustment member 45 is made up of a pair of gap-up rollers that are supported so as to be freely rotatable on a bracket (not shown), and is arranged to widen the gap 44. A gap adjustment member 45 is also provided on the fourth pulley 42, and the gap 44 of the sandwiching belt 43 is larger near the third pulley 41 and the fourth pulley 42 and gradually narrows from both sides toward the center between them.

[0029] The clamping and conveying device 40 having such a configuration can clamp the solid article P conveyed linearly by the second conveying device 20 in the gap 44 of the clamping belts 43 and convey the solid article P with both the top and bottom surfaces exposed. Therefore, in addition to visual inspection of both side surfaces of the solid article P by the imaging devices 32 and 33, visual inspection of the front and back surfaces of the solid article P can be performed by the imaging devices 34 and 35. The solid article P imaged by the imaging devices 34 and 35 falls as the gap 44 of the clamping belts 43 widens during conveyance, and is discharged from the discharge chute 100. To accurately inspect the visual inspection of the front and back surfaces of the solid article P, a guide device such as that disclosed in International Publication No. 2018 / 100980 may be provided between the third pulley 41 and the fourth pulley 42. Furthermore, a printing device may be provided instead of the imaging devices 34 and 35.

[0030] Fig. 6 is a schematic front view of an aligning and conveying device according to another embodiment of the present invention. The aligning and conveying device 1' shown in Fig. 6 is the same as the aligning and conveying device 1 shown in Fig. 1 except that a delivery guide 110 is provided between the first conveying device 10 and the second conveying device 20, and the configuration other than the delivery guide 110 is the same as the configuration of the aligning and conveying device 1 shown in Fig. 1. Therefore, in the aligning and conveying device 1' shown in Fig. 6, the same components as those in Fig. 1 are designated by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

[0031] As shown in Fig. 6, the delivery guide 110 includes a fixed guide member 111 supported by a bracket (not shown). As shown in the plan view of Fig. 7, the fixed guide member 111 is formed in a hollow disk shape so that its inner peripheral edge follows the conveying path 13c of the first conveying device 10, and has a shape in which a portion near the suction position by the second conveying device is cut out. In Fig. 7, the second conveying device is not shown, and only the first pulley 21 included in the second conveying device is indicated by a two-dot chain line.

[0032] 6 and 7, a cover part 112 and an inner guide part 113 are fixed to the notched part of the fixed guide member 111. The cover part 112 is made of a sheet-like member that is not easily bent or deformed, and is interposed between the solid preparations P being transported on the transport path 13c of the first transport device 10 and the belt body 23 of the second transport device 20. The inner guide part 113 is disposed below the cover part 112, and has a guide surface 113a that follows the inner periphery of the transport path 13c of the first transport device 10.

[0033] 8 and 9 are enlarged views of the main parts of FIGS. 6 and 7, respectively. As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the cover 112 extends to the vicinity of the lowest part of the belt 23 of the second conveying device 20 and is disposed so as to cover the solid articles P conveyed along the conveying path 13c of the first conveying device 10 from above. With this configuration, there is no risk that the solid articles P conveyed along the conveying path 13c will be adsorbed onto the belt 23 by reduced pressure suction before reaching the lowest part of the belt 23. Therefore, the solid articles P can be reliably adsorbed at the lowest part of the belt 23 where they are closest to each other, thereby suppressing the ascending distance of the solid articles P between the first conveying device 10 and the second conveying device 20 and enabling the solid articles P to be transferred with appropriate timing and posture.

[0034] 9, the inner guide portion 113 extends from the inner circumferential side of the fixed guide member 111 to a suction position of the solid preparation P at the bottom of the belt body 23, and the solid preparation P conveyed along the conveying path 13c of the first conveying device 10 is conveyed to the suction position while sliding on the guide surface 113a. A gap S formed between the guide surface 113a and a ring-shaped protrusion 13d covering the radially outer side of the conveying path 13c is preferably larger than the lateral length of the solid preparation P having various shapes such as soft capsules and irregularly shaped tablets, but smaller than the longitudinal length of the solid preparation P. With this configuration, the solid preparation P can be adsorbed onto the second conveying device 20 while being aligned so that the longitudinal direction of the solid preparation P is aligned along the conveying direction, thereby stabilizing the posture of the solid preparation P conveyed by the conveying device 20.

[0035] The configuration in which the straight portion of the belt body 23 of the second conveying device 20 is inclined below the first pulley 21 and the second pulley 22 is not limited to the configuration shown in Fig. 1 and Fig. 6 , and may be, for example, a configuration in which the second pulley 22 is arranged diagonally above the first pulley 21, as shown in Fig. 10 . Alternatively, the second conveying device 20 shown in Fig. 10 may be configured such that an additional pulley 121 is further arranged as shown in Fig. 11 , so that the straight portion of the belt body 23 is horizontal above the additional pulley 121 and the second pulley 22. A plurality of additional pulleys 121 may be arranged. As another configuration, as shown in Fig. 12 , the second conveying device 20 may be configured such that the second pulley 22 is arranged vertically above the first pulley 21, so that the solid preparations P are linearly conveyed in the vertical direction. The first pulley 21 and the second pulley 22 shown in FIGS. 10 to 12 may have the same diameter as each other, or may have different diameters from each other. [Explanation of symbols]

[0036] 1 Alignment and conveyance device 10 First conveying device 13 Rotating Ring 13c Conveyor 20 Second conveying device 21 First pulley 22 Second pulley 23 Belt body 23c opening 24 Guide member 25 Suction part

Claims

1. a first conveying device including a rotating ring having a conveying section at an upper portion thereof and having a rotation axis extending in a vertical direction, the first conveying device aligning solid preparations in the conveying section and conveying the solid preparations in the rotation direction of the rotating ring; a second conveying device that sequentially picks up the solid preparations conveyed by the first conveying device from above and conveys them in an aligned state, the second conveying device includes a first pulley and a second pulley, an endless belt wound around the first pulley and the second pulley to convey the solid preparation, and a guide member disposed along the conveying direction of the belt; The belt body has openings formed continuously or intermittently along the longitudinal direction, the guide member includes a suction section that sucks the solid preparation through the opening to cause the solid preparation to be adsorbed onto the belt body, the suction unit is provided so that the solid preparation is attracted to the lowermost part of the belt body in the vicinity of a lower part of the first pulley, rises, and is linearly transported while being attracted to the belt body; the straight portion of the belt body located between the first pulley and the second pulley is inclined obliquely upward from the first pulley toward the second pulley below the first pulley and the second pulley, a cover interposed between the solid preparation transported by the first transport device and the belt body, The cover portion is arranged to cover above the solid preparations transported by the first transport device so that the solid preparations transported by the first transport device are not adsorbed onto the belt body before reaching the bottom of the belt body.

2. The diameter of the second pulley is smaller than the diameter of the first pulley, 2. The aligning and conveying device according to claim 1, wherein the straight portion of the belt member located between the first pulley and the second pulley is horizontal above the first pulley and the second pulley.

3. 3. The aligning and conveying device according to claim 1, wherein the conveying speed of the solid preparations by the second conveying device is faster than the conveying speed of the solid preparations by the first conveying device.

4. 4. The aligning and conveying device according to claim 1, further comprising an appearance inspection device that inspects the appearance of the solid preparations linearly conveyed by the second conveying device.

5. The aligning and conveying device according to claim 1 , further comprising a printing device that prints on the solid preparations linearly conveyed by the second conveying device.

Images