Takeda Chemical Industries, Inc.

Takashi Ohtsuki

Shin Ichi Taniguchi

Yasutaro Wada

An inspecting apparatus includes an illuminator, a light sensor positioned on one side of the path of movement of containers opposite to the illuminator capable of receiving rays of light which have passed through the container, rays of light reflected fro the container and rays of light travelling straight from the illuminator towards the light sensor within a predetermined region exteriorly of the container, a detector for analyzing the rays of light received by the light sensor, and a light absorbing or shielding member positioned diagonally and to the side of the container as viewed in a direction from the light sensor towards the illuminator. The light absorbing or shielding member shields rays of light reflecting from the surfaces of each of opposite wall portions of the container. Thus, a line of shade corresponding to the contour of the container can be formed on the side of the light sensor for accentuating the boundary between the container, illuminated by the rays of light from the illuminator, and a predetermined region defined exteriorly of the ocntainer by the rays of light travelling striaght towards the light sensor.

Container inspecting apparatus with a light shielding member shaped to

A hopper assembly for use in a product transporting apparatus having a rotary drum having at least one circumferential row of equally spaced, radially inwardly recessed pockets for receiving therein products to be transported while they are sucked therein by the effect of negative pressure developed in the respective pockets as the rotary drum rotates in one direction. The hopper assembly has a container having a bottom plate inclined at a particular angle downwardly towards the periphery of the drum and terminating at a particular position, and a nozzle assembly for supplying jets of compressed air into the container for permitting the products to be upwardly moved thereby to facilitate the supply of the products successively into the respective pockets.

Supply hopper assembly

An apparatus for detecting the presence of a foreign matter on each solid drug item by scanning the surface of the solid drug item with a television camera and for generating a pulse signal when the level of a scanning signal thereof exceeds a predetermined value includes a shift register for temporarily storing, for each address, the pulse signal per scan line of the camera and for outputting the signal sequentially for each address during the next succeeding scan; an OR gate for receiving both an address output from the shift register and the next succeeding address output; an AND gate for receiving both an output from the OR gate and an output at the address corresponding to the address output at the next succeeding scan line; a counter for counting pulse signals fed thereto from the AND gate; and an output circuit for generating a detection signal indicative of the detection of foreign matter when the count of the counter is greater than a predetermined value, whereby a pulse signal bridging between the neighboring addresses and also between the adjoining scan lines can be output by the counter so that foreign matter of a length and width corresponding to the output thereof can be detected.

Apparatus for inspecting solid drugs and a method therefor

A product transporting apparatus for transporting solid products of generally similar shape and/or size successively from a take-in station towards a take-out station, which comprises first and second rotary drum rotatable in the opposite directions with each other. The first and second rotary drums are of identical construction each having at least one circumferential row of tubular receptables protruding radially outwardly from the outer periphery of the respective drum and circumferentially equally spaced from each other. The products can be successively supplied onto the first rotary drum and held in position sucked by the tubular receptacles then communicated with a vacuum source at the take-in station, which are in turn transported, during the rotation of the drums, to the transfer station where they are released from the receptacles on the first drum then communicated with a compressed air source, onto the respective tubular receptacles on the second rotary drum then communicated with the vacuum source. The products so transferred onto the second rotary drum are then transported in a similar fashion towards the take-out station where they are successively released from the second rotary drum onto a subsequent processing station.

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Kawabe, Japan

Takashi Ohtsuki