Shibaura Mechatronics Corporation

Yasutsugu Tsuruoka

Azusa Hirano

Junsuke Komito

Hironori Haijima

Toru Kuribayashi

Shinichi Ogimoto

Ryo Ikuta

Hitoshi Aoyagi

Yuki Umemura

Hikaru Hoshino

Yutaka Okabe

Noritsugu Tanio

Junpei Tanaka

According to one embodiment, a tablet printing apparatus includes: a conveyor configured to convey a tablet while sucking and holding the tablet by the discharge of air; an inkjet head configured to perform printing on the tablet conveyed by the conveyor; an exhaust pipe which the air discharged from the conveyor passes through; an exhaust blower as a heat source that generates heat; a heat conductive member that is in contact with the exhaust pipe and the exhaust blower; and a housing configured to house the conveyor, the inkjet head, the exhaust pipe, the exhaust blower, and the heat conductive member.

Tablet printing apparatus and heat dissipation method thereof

According to one embodiment, a tablet printing apparatus includes: a first rotator having an inner space; a duct configured to communicate with the inner space of the first rotator; a suction pipe configured to suck inside the duct; a second rotator arranged to face the first rotator across the duct; a conveyor belt wrapped around the first rotator and the second rotator; and a print head that performs printing on a tablet held on the conveyor belt. The conveyor belt includes a plurality of suction holes which communicate with the inner space of the first rotator and that of the duct, and are arranged in the rotation direction of the first rotator. The first rotator and the duct constitutes a suction chamber that applies a suction force to those of the suction holes of the conveyor belt located around the outer periphery of the first rotator and the duct.

Tablet printing apparatus

According to one embodiment, a tablet printing apparatus includes a conveyor, an inkjet print head, and a controller. The conveyor is configured to convey a tablet having an outer shape that does not determine the printing direction of a print pattern to be printed thereon. The print head includes a plurality of nozzles each configured to eject a liquid to print the print pattern on the tablet being conveyed. The controller is configured to control the print head to perform printing on the tablet being conveyed such that the printing direction of the print pattern is changed at predetermined intervals at least between a first direction which is parallel to or crosses the conveying direction of the tablet, and a second direction which crosses the conveying direction, and in which more nozzles are used for printing than in the first direction.

Tablet printing apparatus and tablet printing method

According to one embodiment, a tablet printing apparatus includes: a conveyor belt configured to convey a tablet; a print head configured to perform printing on the tablet conveyed by the conveyor belt; and a belt-position detector configured to detect the position of the conveyor belt in a direction crossing the conveying direction of the tablet in a horizontal plane. The conveyor belt includes a plurality of holes arranged in a row along the conveying direction of the tablet to hold the tablet. The belt-position detector includes an imaging device configured to capture an image of two or more of the holes; and an image processing device configured to detect the position of the conveyor belt in the crossing direction based on the image captured by the imaging device.

According to one embodiment, a tablet printing apparatus includes: a conveying path where a tablet is conveyed; a drying device configured to dry the tablet in the conveying path; and a print head device located on the downstream side of the drying device in the conveying path. The print head device is configured to perform printing on the tablet dried by the drying device.

According to one embodiment, a tablet printing apparatus performs printing by using an inkjet print head device for a tablet conveyed by a conveying device. The conveying device includes a conveyor belt having a suction hole and configured to convey the tablet while sucking the tablet from the suction hole. The tablet printing apparatus further includes a rectifying board arranged at a distance from the conveyor belt so as to face a surface of the conveyor belt. The rectifying board has a gas permeability to let an airflow flowing toward the suction hole pass therethrough.

According to one embodiment, a tablet printing deviceincludes: a conveyerconfigured to convey a tablet T; a laser displacement meterconfigured to emit laser beams to the tablet T conveyed by the conveyerand receive the laser beams reflected by the tablet T; a determination unitconfigured to determine whether there is a split line on the upper surface of the tablet T conveyed by the conveyerbased on an output value of the laser displacement meter; and a printing unitconfigured to perform printing on the tablet T conveyed by the conveyerbased on a determination result obtained by the determination unit

Tablet printing apparatus and printing method

According to one embodiment, a tablet printing apparatus includes: a conveyor belt that includes a suction hole connected to a suction chamber, and conveys a tablet while sucking the tablet to the suction hole; an ink jet print head that has a nozzle surface where a nozzle is formed, and is located above the conveyor belt such that the nozzle surface faces the conveyor belt, and performs printing on the tablet conveyed by the conveyor belt; and a control plate that is located on the upstream side of the print head in the conveying direction of the tablet between the conveyor belt and the height position of the nozzle surface of the print head, and controls an airflow generated between the conveyor belt and the print head.

According to one embodiment, a tablet printing apparatus includes: a conveyor belt including a suction hole to suck a tablet; and an ink jet print head configured to perform printing on the tablet; wherein the conveyor belt further includes a plurality of protrusions formed around the suction hole and configured to support the tablet in contact with the tablet, and a recess formed between the protrusions and communicated with the suction hole, each of the protrusions has a bottom surface, an upper surface, area of which is smaller than that of the bottom surface, and a side surface having an inclined surface, the protrusions support the tablet such that a gap is formed between a surface of the tablet on conveyor belt side and the suction hole, and a suction force is applied to the gap and space of the recess through the suction hole to suck the tablet.

According to one embodiment, a tablet printing apparatus includes: a conveyor; an inkjet head configured to eject ink from a nozzle to a tablet conveyed by the conveyor to perform printing; an ink tank configured to contain the ink to be supplied to the inkjet head; a moving device configured to change the height of the ink tank; and a control unit configured to control the moving device. The control unit controls the moving device to change the height of the ink tank based on a use amount of the ink figured out in advance to maintain a head difference between the height of the liquid level of the ink in the ink tank and the height of a nozzle forming surface, where the nozzle is formed in the inkjet head, at a predetermined value.

[Problem to be Solved] To provide a tablet printing apparatus and a tablet printing method that can perform printing with high quality by ejecting ink droplets to a tablet with a various posture from a plurality of nozzles. [Solution] A tablet printing apparatus includes: inclined posture detector () that detects an inclined posture of a conveyed tablet with respect to a conveying surface; a printer including an inkjet headequipped with a plurality of nozzles for ejecting an ink droplet, the printer performing printing on the conveyed tablet by ejecting ink to the conveyed tablet from the plurality of nozzles; and a controllerfor adjusting preset printing data corresponding to an inclined posture of the tablet detected by the inclined posture detector such that predetermined printing is performed on the tablet, wherein the printer performs printing on the tablet based on printing data adjusted by the printing data adjuster.

Growing community of inventors

Yokohama, Japan

Yasutsugu Tsuruoka