Classifying – separating – and assorting solids – Sorting special items – and certain methods and apparatus for... – Separating means
Reexamination Certificate
2002-07-18
2004-05-25
Walsh, Donald P. (Department: 3653)
Classifying, separating, and assorting solids
Sorting special items, and certain methods and apparatus for...
Separating means
C209S683000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06739455
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a defective capsule removing mechanism for discharging and removing, where capsules are accommodated and held in capsule pockets in a capsule filling machine for transportation, a capsule sealing machine or a capsule appearance inspection apparatus, a coupling defective capsule whose cap and body are separate from each other from a capsule pocket, and a defective capsule removing mechanism for removing, when capsules in a horizontally lying state wherein the cap side is directed in a fixed direction are accommodated in and transported by capsule pockets, a capsule in a reversely horizontally lying state wherein the cap side is directed in the reverse direction.
Conventionally, in a capsule filling machine for filling contents substance such as medicine into empty capsules, a capsule sealing machine for applying band seals to filled capsule products such as pharmaceutical capsules wherein medicine or the like is filled therein, or capsule-shaped foods or a capsule appearance inspection machine for performing an appearance inspection of empty capsules or such filled capsule products as described above, a method is adopted wherein empty capsules or filled capsule products (which are hereinafter referred to simply as “capsules”) supplied successively are accommodated into and transported in capsule pockets, and while they are transported, filling of contents substance is performed, band sealing is performed, or an appearance inspection is performed.
Further, in such machines and apparatus as described above, it is necessary to control all of capsules supplied at random in a fixed posture by posture control, transport and supply the capsules to a filling mechanism section for filling contents substance, a band sealing mechanism section for applying band seals to boundary portions between the caps and the bodies of the capsules or an inspection mechanism section for photographing the capsules using a camera to detect an appearance defect. To this end, the apparatus mentioned includes a capsule supplying apparatus which stably transports capsules from a hopper or the like to the filling mechanism section, band sealing mechanism section or inspection mechanism section and controls the direction of all of the capsules to be supplied at random to a state wherein they are directed in a fixed direction when they are transported.
For example, the capsule filling machine is constructed such that empty capsules whose caps and bodies are temporarily coupled to each other are transported usually in an erected state wherein the cap is directed upwardly, and, while the empty capsules are transported, they are separated into the caps and the bodies and contents substance is filled into the bodies, and then the caps and the bodies are coupled to each other again thereby to produce filled capsule products. Therefore, a capsule supplying section is required for stably supplying empty capsules supplied at random from a hopper or the like to the filling mechanism section while controlling the posture of each empty capsule in an erected state wherein the cap is directed upwardly.
As such a known capsule supplying section for a capsule filling machine as described above, a supplying mechanism, that is, as shown in
FIG. 13
, using three transporting drums of a supplying drum
1
, a direction controlling drum
2
and a feeding drum
3
, capsules are successively transferred and transported among the drums, and while they are transported, the capsules which are supplied at random are controlled in posture to an erected state wherein the cap is directed upwardly. In the following, the supplying mechanism is described briefly. It is to be noted that, in the present specification, the “upward/downward” directions of an empty capsule held on a drum-type transporting unit are upward/downward directions where the outer periphery side of the drum is represented as upward while the center side is represented as downward, and the “erected state” signifies a state wherein the empty capsule is held along a diametral direction of the drum with the cap positioned on the outer periphery side of the drum and with the body directed to the center side of the drum. Further, the “inverted state” signifies a state wherein the empty capsule is held along a diametral direction of the drum with the body positioned on the outer periphery side of the drum and with the cap directed toward the center side of the drum, and the “vertically standing state” signifies a state wherein the empty capsule is held along a diametral direction of the drum irrespective of the directions of the cap and the body.
In particular, reference numeral
1
in
FIG. 13
denotes a supplying drum on which a large number of supply pockets for accommodating empty capsules AB each composed of a cap A and a body B temporarily coupled to each other in a vertically standing state therein are formed in a row along a circumferential direction. The supplying drum
1
accommodates and holds empty capsules supplied at random from a hopper h in an uprightly standing state in the supply pockets
11
to transport the empty capsules and transfers the empty capsules to direction controlling pockets
21
of the direction controlling drum
2
.
Each of the direction controlling pockets
21
is composed of an upper portion
211
capable of accommodating an empty capsule in a horizontally lying state, and a bottom portion
212
communicated with an end portion of the upper portion
211
and allowing only the body of a capsule to enter. The body B portion of an empty capsule AB introduced into a direction controlling pocket
21
with the body B side thereof directed forwardly enters the bottom portion
212
of the direction controlling pocket
21
until the empty capsule AB is fully accommodated into the direction controlling pocket
21
in an erected state, and the empty capsule AB is transported in this state by rotation of the direction controlling drum
2
. On the other hand, an empty capsule AB′ introduced into a direction controlling pocket
21
with the cap A side directed forwardly cannot enter the bottom portion
212
, but is accommodated once in the direction controlling pocket
21
in an inverted state wherein the body B side thereof projects from an outer circumferential face of the direction controlling drum
2
. Then, as the direction controlling drum
2
rotates, the projecting body B portion of the empty capsule AB′ is in contact with a direction controlling guide member
22
for thereby being horizontally laid down, so that the empty capsule AB′ is accommodated in the upper portion
211
of the direction controlling pocket
21
in a horizontally lying state wherein the cap A is directed in the direction of rotation of the direction controlling drum
2
, and the empty capsule AB′ is transported in this state. Then, such empty capsules AB in an erected state and the empty capsules AB′ in a horizontally lying state are transferred to feeding pockets
31
of the feeding drum
3
.
The feeding pockets
31
of the feeding drum
3
are adapted to accommodate empty capsules in an erected state. The empty capsules AB accommodated in an erected state in the direction controlling pockets
21
enter as they are into the feeding pockets
31
with the cap A side directed forwardly and are accommodated into the feeding pockets
31
in an inverted state. Meanwhile, since also the empty capsules AB′ accommodated in a horizontally lying state in the upper portions
211
of the direction controlling pocket
21
are in a horizontally lying state wherein the cap A is directed forwardly in the direction of rotation, they enter the feeding pockets
31
with the cap A side directed forwardly so that they are accommodated into the feeding pockets
31
in an inverted state. In this manner, all empty capsules accommodated in the feeding pockets
31
are brought into an inverted state. Then, all of the empty capsules AB are transported by rotation of the feeding drum
3
and discharged from th
Konishi Hirokazu
Yamamoto Taizo
Birch & Stewart Kolasch & Birch, LLP
Kohner Matthew J.
Shionogi Qualicaps Co., LTD
Walsh Donald P.
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