Separation failure capsule removal mechanism

Abstract

A separation failure capsule removal mechanism 1 removes a separation failure capsule 50 from a cap conveyance body 100, the separation failure capsule removal mechanism 1 comprising: a push-up part 10 which is disposed below a conveyance body main unit 101, and engages with a capsule body 51 of the separation failure capsule 50 to push up the separation failure capsule 50; and a pull-up part 20 which pulls up the separation failure capsule 50, protruding upwardly from the conveyance body main unit 101 after being pushed up by the push-up part 10, from a pocket 102. The pull-up part 20 comprises a pull-up roller in which a holding groove 21 for holding the capsule cap 51 of the separation failure capsule 50 is formed along the circumferential direction of the outer peripheral surface.

Description

Poorly separated capsule removal mechanism

[0001] The present invention relates to a mechanism for removing a capsule that has failed to separate.

[0002] A capsule filling machine that fills capsules with a filling material such as powder, granules, or highly viscous liquid is configured so that when an empty capsule with a cap and body temporarily joined is supplied, the machine sequentially separates the cap from the body, fills the body with the filling material, and then reconnects the cap to the body while the empty capsule is being transported.

[0003] The separation of the cap and the body is generally performed by vacuum suction, but there are cases where the cap is not properly separated from the body due to factors such as weak vacuum suction power or a strong bond between the cap and the body, and the capsule is conveyed as a defective capsule. Since defective capsules cannot be filled with filling material, they must be removed from the conveying path.

[0004] As a conventional mechanism for removing capsules that have failed to separate, Patent Document 1 discloses a configuration in which, for a capsule filling machine equipped with a cap holder that holds caps separated from the body, when a detector detects that a capsule that has failed to separate is included among the caps being transported by the cap holder, the capsule that has failed to separate is pushed up from below the holder by a push-up plate and removed by vacuum suction from above the holder.

[0005] Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 55-146161

[0006] The poorly separated capsule removal mechanism disclosed in Patent Document 1 has the problem that when vacuum-suctioning poorly separated capsules that have been pushed up from the holder by the lifting plate, if the suction force is too weak, there is a risk that the poorly separated capsules will not be sucked in, while if the suction force is too strong, there is a risk that even properly separated caps will be removed. This means that there is a problem in that it can be difficult to set the vacuum suction force to properly remove only the poorly separated capsules.

[0007] SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a mechanism for removing defectively separated capsules that can easily and reliably remove defectively separated capsules.

[0008] The object of the present invention is to provide a defective capsule removal mechanism for removing a defective capsule from a cap conveying body that conveys capsule caps separated from capsule bodies in a plurality of pockets that penetrate the conveying body body from above when a defective capsule, in which the capsule cap and capsule body have not been separated, is contained in one of the pockets with the capsule body protruding below the conveying body, the defective capsule removal mechanism comprising: a push-up section that is disposed below the conveying body body and engages with the capsule body of the defective capsule to push up the defective capsule; and a pull-up section that pulls up the defective capsule that has protruded above the conveying body body by being pushed up by the push-up section, the pull-up section being composed of a pull-up roller having a clamping groove formed along the circumferential surface of its outer surface that clamps the capsule cap of the defective capsule.

[0009] In this mechanism for removing capsules with poor separation, it is preferable that the pushing-up section has an inclined section consisting of an inclined surface that slopes upward along the conveying direction of the cap conveying body, and it is preferable that capsules with poor separation that are conveyed along the inclined section are pushed up by the lower end of the capsule body sliding along the inclined section, so that the capsule cap protrudes above the conveying body body.

[0010] The lifting unit may be configured to be rotated by friction between the outer circumferential surface of the lifting unit and the upper surface of the conveying body, or may be configured to be rotated independently of the cap conveying body so that the peripheral speed of the outer circumferential surface of the lifting unit is faster than the conveying speed of the conveying body.

[0011] The width of the clamping groove is preferably 90 to 95% of the diameter of the capsule cap of the capsule having a separation defect.

[0012] The capsule reel device preferably further includes a recovery unit configured to recover the capsules having failed to separate from the recovery unit, and the recovery unit preferably includes a scraping member configured to scrape out the capsules having failed to separate from the pockets by the pull-up unit.

[0013] It is preferable that the capsule ejector further comprises a pressing section that presses the defective capsules pushed up by the pushing section between the pushing section and the pressing section.

[0014] According to the defective capsule removal mechanism of the present invention, defective capsules can be easily and reliably removed.

[0015] Fig. 2 is a plan view of a separation-failed capsule removal mechanism according to one embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 3 is a perspective view including the AA cross section of the separation-failed capsule removal mechanism shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a AA cross section of the separation-failed capsule removal mechanism shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is an enlarged view of a main part of the separation-failed capsule removal mechanism shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 6 is a cross section of a separation-failed capsule removal mechanism according to another embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 7 is a cross section of a separation-failed capsule removal mechanism according to yet another embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 8 is a cross section of a separation-failed capsule removal mechanism according to yet another embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 9 is a plan view of a separation-failed capsule removal mechanism according to yet another embodiment of the present invention.

[0016] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Fig. 1 is a plan view of a defective separation capsule removal mechanism according to one embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 2 is a perspective view including a cross section A-A of the defective separation capsule removal mechanism shown in Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 is a cross section A-A of the defective separation capsule removal mechanism shown in Fig. 1. The defective separation capsule removal mechanism 1 shown in Figs. 1 to 3 is a mechanism for removing defective separation capsules 50 from a cap transport body 100 in a capsule filling machine that separates a temporarily joined capsule cap 51 and a capsule body 52 and then fills the capsule body 52 with a filling material. When defective separation capsules 50 are mixed in with the separated capsule caps 51 transported by the cap transport body 100, the defective separation capsules 50 are removed from the cap transport body 100.

[0017] The cap conveying body 100 has a belt-shaped conveying body main body 101 and a plurality of pockets 102 formed in two rows along the longitudinal direction thereof. The capsule caps 51 separated from the capsule bodies 52 are accommodated in each pocket 102 and conveyed horizontally in the direction of arrow T. Each pocket 102 is cylindrical and penetrates the conveying body main body 101 from top to bottom. A stepped portion 102a with a reduced diameter is formed at the lower edge of each pocket 102, and the lower end of the capsule cap 51 abuts against the stepped portion 102a and is held therein. The number of rows of the pockets 102 of the cap conveying body 100 is not particularly limited and may be a single row or three or more rows.

[0018] A body transport body 110 is disposed below the cap transport body 100. The body transport body 110 has a plurality of storage sections 112 formed in two rows along the longitudinal direction of a main body 111 extending parallel to the transport body main body 101 of the cap transport body 100, and stores the capsule bodies 52 in each storage section 112 and transports them in the same direction as the cap transport body 100. A suction port 112a is formed in the lower part of the storage section 112.

[0019] The cap conveying body 100 and the body conveying body 110 are configured to approach each other at a location not shown, and transport the temporarily joined capsule cap 51 and capsule body 52 by storing them in the pocket 102 and the storage section 112, respectively, and then separate the capsule cap 51 and the capsule body 52 by vacuum-suctioning the capsule body 52 through the suction port 112a, and then move away from each other.

[0020] 1 to 3 show the position where the cap conveying body 100 and the body conveying body 110 are separated from each other after the capsule cap 51 and the capsule body 52 are separated in the capsule filling machine. The pocket 102 of the cap conveying body 100 normally contains the capsule cap 51 separated from the capsule body 52. ​​However, if the capsule body 52 is not separated from the capsule cap 51 by vacuum suction, the capsule 50, in which the capsule body 52 remains attached to the capsule cap 51, is contained in the pocket 102 and conveyed with the capsule body 52 protruding below the conveying body main body 101.

[0021] As shown in Figures 1 to 3, the defective capsule removal mechanism 1 of this embodiment includes a push-up section 10 that is positioned below the conveying body main body 101 of the cap conveying body 100 and pushes up the defective capsules 50, a lifting section 20 that pulls up the defective capsules 50 that protrude above the conveying body main body 101 by being pushed up by the push-up section 10, and a recovery section 30 that recovers the defective capsules 50 that have been lifted up by the lifting section 20.

[0022] The push-up section 10 is formed in a block shape, and has an inclined section 11 and a support section 12 formed on its upper surface. The inclined section 11 is an inclined surface that slopes upward along the conveying direction T of the cap conveying body 100, and is formed at a height that engages with the capsule body 52 of the separation-defective capsule 50 conveyed by the cap conveying body 100. The separation-defective capsule 50 conveyed along the inclined section 11 by the cap conveying body 100 is pushed up by the lower end of the capsule body 52 sliding along the inclined section 11, and the capsule cap 51 protrudes above the conveying body main body 101.

[0023] The support portion 12 consists of a horizontal surface formed downstream of the inclined portion 11 in the conveying direction of the cap conveying body 100, and the lower end of the capsule body 52 slides over the support portion 12, thereby maintaining the capsule cap 51 protruding above the conveying body main body 101.

[0024] The lifting unit 20 comprises a lifting roller that rotates around a horizontal axis perpendicular to the conveying direction T of the cap conveying body 100, and is disposed opposite the support unit 12 across the cap conveying body 100. The outer peripheral surface of the lifting unit 20 contacts the upper surface of the conveying body main body 101, and is driven to rotate in the direction of arrow R by friction with the conveying body main body 101 moving along the conveying direction T. The lifting unit 20 of this embodiment does not require a separate drive source for rotation, thereby reducing manufacturing costs. However, the lifting unit 20 may be configured to be driven to rotate independently of the cap conveying body 100 by a drive source different from that of the cap conveying body 100. In this case, it is preferable to set the peripheral speed of the outer peripheral surface of the lifting unit 20 faster than the conveying speed of the conveying body main body 101, thereby more reliably lifting up defective capsules 50 by the lifting unit 20, as described below.

[0025] The lifting part 20 has a clamping groove 21 formed along the circumferential direction of the outer circumferential surface. A plurality of clamping grooves 21 are formed corresponding to the respective rows of pockets 102 formed in the conveying body 101, and clamp the capsule caps 51 of the separation-defective capsules 50 pushed up above the conveying body 101 by the pushing part 10, and lift the separation-defective capsules 50 out of the pockets 102. The depth of the clamping grooves 21 is not particularly limited as long as it is deep enough to reliably clamp the capsule caps 51.

[0026] The recovery unit 30 includes a plate-shaped scraping member 31 that scrapes out the defective capsules 50 that have been pulled up by the rotation of the pulling unit 20 from the clamping grooves 21, and a recovery box 32 that recovers the defective capsules 50 scraped out by the scraping member 31. The scraping member 31 has spatula-shaped insertion portions 31a that branch off at the bottom and are inserted into the plurality of clamping grooves 21, respectively. The defective capsules 50 that have been clamped in the clamping grooves 21 are scraped out by being pushed back by the insertion portions 31a as the pulling unit 20 rotates, and are released from the pulling unit 20.

[0027] The recovery box 32 is disposed adjacent to the pull-up unit 20 on the downstream side in the transport direction of the cap transport body 100, and stores the failed-to-separate capsules 50 scraped out by the scraping member 31. As shown in Fig. 3, the recovery box 32 can more reliably collect the failed-to-separate capsules 50 by suctioning them by vacuum or the like from the side opposite the scraping member 31. However, suction into the recovery box 32 is not essential, and the failed-to-separate capsules 50 can also be collected in the recovery box 32 without suction.

[0028] When the capsule cap 51 is properly stored and transported in the pocket 102 of the cap transport body 100, the capsule cap 51 passes through the lifting section 20 and the recovery section 30 without being pushed up by the pushing section 10 and remaining stored in the pocket 102 in the failed separation capsule removal mechanism 1 having the above-described configuration.

[0029] On the other hand, when a poorly separated capsule 50 is contained in the pocket 102 of the cap conveying body 100, the poorly separated capsule 50 is pushed up by the pushing part 10 during conveyance, and the capsule cap 51 of the poorly separated capsule 50 protruding from the cap conveying body 100 is clamped in the clamping groove 21 of the lifting part 20, thereby lifting the poorly separated capsule 50 from the pocket 102.

[0030] In this way, the lifting unit 20 physically clamps the defective capsules 50, eliminating the need for fine adjustment of the vacuum suction force as in the conventional technology of removing defective capsules by vacuum suction, and making it possible to easily and reliably remove the defective capsules 50. Furthermore, the defective capsules 50 conveyed along the inclined portion 11 of the pushing unit 10 are automatically pushed up by the lower end of the capsule body 52 sliding along the inclined portion 11, eliminating the need for a detector to detect the defective capsules 50 and reducing manufacturing costs. The capsule caps 51 and capsule bodies 52 that have passed through the defective capsule removal mechanism 1 are connected to each other after the capsule bodies 52 have been filled with the filling material, as in conventional capsule filling machines.

[0031] 4 is an enlarged view of the pulling portion 20 shown in FIG. 4. As shown in FIG. 4, by chamfering or filleting the opening edge 21a of each clamping groove 21, the capsule cap 51 of the separation-defective capsule 50 can be smoothly clamped, and misalignment of the clamping groove 21 with respect to the separation-defective capsule 50 in the width direction can be easily tolerated. The groove width S of the clamping groove 21 only needs to be smaller than the diameter of the capsule cap 51 of the separation-defective capsule 50 so that the separation-defective capsule 50 can be securely clamped. However, if the groove width S of the clamping groove 21 is too small, the capsule cap 51 will be excessively deformed when clamped. Therefore, the groove width S of the clamping groove 21 is preferably 90 to 95% of the diameter of the capsule cap 51 of the separation-defective capsule 50.

[0032] Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail above, specific aspects of the present invention are not limited to the above embodiment. For example, although the inclined portion 11 of the push-up portion 10 of this embodiment is formed in a flat shape, the inclined portion 11 may also be curved, as shown in Figure 5(a). The support portion 12 consisting of a horizontal surface is not necessarily required. For example, the pull-up portion 20 may be configured to clamp and lift up a capsule 50 that has not been separated while being transported along the inclined portion 11 using the clamping groove 21.

[0033] As shown in FIG. 5B , instead of the inclined portion 11, the pusher 10 may be configured to include a rod-shaped pusher 13 that moves up and down by an elevator (not shown). The tip 13a of the pusher 13 is configured to be insertable from below into the pocket 102 of the cap conveying body 100. When a sensor (not shown) detects a defective capsule 50, the pusher 13 is raised to push the defective capsule 50 into the clamping groove 21 of the lifting portion 20. The pusher 13 does not necessarily have to be inserted into the pocket 102, and may be, for example, a plate-like or column-like member that can push up the defective capsule 50 from below. Note that in FIG. 5 , components similar to those in FIG. 3 and the like are designated by the same reference numerals (as in the following figures).

[0034] As shown in Figure 6 (a), the scraping member 31 provided in the recovery unit 30 may be formed in a block shape having a certain width in the transport direction T of the cap transport body 100 (for example, a width covering approximately 1 / 4 of the bottom surface of the clamping groove 21 in the circumferential direction), thereby increasing the strength of the scraping member 31 and making it possible to more reliably recover capsules 50 that have not been separated.

[0035] As shown in Fig. 6(b), the recovery unit 30 may be configured to include an air injection unit 33 that injects high-pressure air toward the recovery box 32 to guide the failed-separation capsules 50 to the recovery box 32. Alternatively, as shown in Fig. 6(c), a configuration may be adopted in which a plurality of scraping members 31 are provided radially on the outer circumferential surface of the rotor 34, and the scraping members 31 scrape the failed-separation capsules 50 from the pulling unit 20 as the rotor 34 rotates. By providing the recovery unit 30, the failed-separation capsules 50 pulled up by the pulling unit 20 can be automatically recovered, but the failed-separation capsules 50 pulled up by the pulling unit 20 can also be manually recovered without providing the recovery unit 30.

[0036] 7 , the cap transporting device may further include a pressing unit 40 that presses the defective capsules 50, which are transported by the cap transport body 100 and pushed up by the inclined portion 11 of the pushing unit 10, between the pushing unit 10 and the defective capsules 50. The pressing unit 40 is a block-shaped member that is arranged adjacent to the upstream side of the pulling unit 20 in the transport direction of the cap transporting body 100, and has a pressing surface 40a on its lower side against which the capsule caps 51 of the defective capsules 50 slide. With this configuration, the defective capsules 50 are pressed and clamped between the pushing unit 10 and the pressing unit 40, thereby increasing the bonding force between the capsule caps 51 and the capsule bodies 52. This prevents the pulling unit 20 from lifting up only the capsule caps 51 of the defective capsules 50, and more reliably removes the defective capsules 50.

[0037] The defective capsule removal mechanism 1 of this embodiment is applied to a cap transport body 100 on which the defective capsules 50 are transported in a straight line, but it is also possible to apply the defective capsule removal mechanism 1 having a configuration similar to that of this embodiment to a ring-shaped cap transport body 100 on which the defective capsules 50 are rotated and transported in the direction of the arrow, as shown in the plan view of Figure 8. The defective capsule removal mechanism of the present invention is suitably applied to a continuous transport type cap transport body, but can also be applied to an intermittent transport type cap transport body.

[0038] REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 Mechanism for removing capsules with poor separation 10 Push-up section 11 Inclined section 20 Pull-up section (pull-up roller) 21 Grip groove 30 Collection section 31 Scraping member 40 Pressing section 50 Capsule with poor separation 51 Capsule cap 52 Capsule body 100 Cap conveying body 101 Conveying body main body 102 Pocket

Claims

1. A defective capsule removal mechanism for removing a defective capsule from a cap conveying body in a case where a defective capsule, in which the capsule cap and capsule body have not been separated, are contained in a pocket with the capsule body protruding below the conveying body, in a cap conveying body which contains and conveys capsule caps separated from capsule bodies in a plurality of pockets penetrating the conveying body body from above, the defective capsule removal mechanism comprising: a push-up section which is disposed below the conveying body body and engages with the capsule body of the defective capsule to push up the defective capsule; and a pull-up section which pulls up the defective capsule protruding above the conveying body body from the pocket by being pushed up by the push-up section, the pull-up section being composed of a pull-up roller having a clamping groove formed along the circumferential direction of its outer surface for clamping the capsule cap of the defective capsule.

2. The mechanism for removing defective capsules as described in claim 1, wherein the push-up portion has an inclined portion consisting of an inclined surface that slopes upward along the conveying direction of the cap conveying body, and a defective capsule conveyed along the inclined portion is pushed up by the lower end of the capsule body sliding along the inclined portion, causing the capsule cap to protrude above the conveying body.

3. A mechanism for removing defective capsules according to claim 1, wherein the lifting portion is rotationally driven by friction between the outer circumferential surface of the lifting portion and the upper surface of the conveying body.

4. A mechanism for removing defective capsules as described in claim 1, wherein the lifting portion is rotated independently of the cap transport body so that the peripheral speed of the outer circumferential surface of the lifting portion is faster than the transport speed of the transport body.

5. A mechanism for removing defective capsules according to claim 1, wherein the groove width of the clamping groove is 90 to 95% of the diameter of the capsule cap of the defective capsule.

6. The defective capsule removal mechanism according to claim 1, further comprising a recovery section which separates the defective capsules pulled up by the lifting section from the lifting section and recovers them.

7. A mechanism for removing defective capsules according to claim 6, wherein the recovery section includes a scraping member for scraping out, from the clamping groove, the defective capsules that have been pulled up from the pocket by the pulling section.

8. The defective capsule removal mechanism according to claim 1, further comprising a pressing section for pressing the defective capsule pushed up by the pushing section between the pushing section and the defective capsule removal mechanism.

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