Patent US3757943A successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
US3757943A
Expired / Lapsed
US
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Electronic system and method for capsule inspection
Assignee: Individual
•
Filing: 1971-09-27
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Granted: 1973-09-11
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Expires: 1991-09-27
Abstract
Abstract An electronically controlled system and method for processing the signals obtained from an optical inspection of rapidly presented and rotated medicinal capsules. Built-in deviations in the capsule structure are differentiated from structural defects which may occur and the decision made to accept or reject each capsule. The occurrence of a defect or a built-in deviation causes photo detectors to have a current spike output. Both the defect and the built-in deviation spikes are converted to digital pulses. The defect pulses are counted and the deviation pulses are used to reset a free-running oscillator controlled counter. A defect in the circumferential vicinity of the built-in deviations causes the built-in deviation counter to be prematurely reset. This causes a defect to be recorded. Each capsule is redundantly examined. A sufficient number of reoccurrences of any defect causes a shift register to be activated which initiates and controls the rejection of the capsule. Optical readouts present the number of rejected and accepted capsules, and the percentage of rejected capsules for each lot of 1,000 capsules which are inspected.
Inventors
- 👤 J Catontruaty
- 👤 W Berntsen
- 👤 H Chae
- 👤 R Gelinas
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-23 13:57
CPC Classifications
G; G01; G01N; G01N21/00; G01N21/84; G01N21/88; G01N21/95; G01N21/9508; A; A61; A61J; A61J3/00; A61J3/07; A61J3/071; A61J3/074; G06; G06V; G06V20/00; G06V20/60; G06V20/66; H; H03; H03K; H03K23/00; H03K23/78; H03M; H03M1/00; H03M1/12; Y; Y10; Y10S; Y10S209/00; Y10S209/912; Y10S209/919
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 43
Claim 1
Independent Claim
141 words
An electronic system for inspecting medicinal capsules or the like containing one or more built-in deviations comprising means for optically scanning an area of a capsule containing one or more of said built-in deviations and which may contain one or more defects giving a similar signal response, and means for generating from such scanning an analog signal containing expected signal variations characteristic of said built-in deviations and occurring at predetermined times, and containing similar signal variations characteristic of capsule defects in the scanned area and occurring at other times, means for discriminating between signal variations caused by said built-in deviations and signal variations caused by defects, including detection means to detect the occurrence of signal variations at intervals shorter than the intervals between the predetermined times of occurrence of said expected variations, as an indication of the presence of a defect.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
141 words
An electronic system for inspecting medicinal capsules or the like containing one or more built-in deviations comprising means for optically scanning an area of a capsule containing one or more of said built-in deviations and which may contain one or more defects giving a similar signal response, and means for generating from such scanning an analog signal containing expected signal variations characteristic of said built-in deviations and occurring at predetermined times, and containing similar signal variations characteristic of capsule defects in the scanned area and occurring at other times, means for discriminating between signal variations caused by said built-in deviations and signal variations caused by defects, including detection means to detect the occurrence of signal variations at intervals shorter than the intervals between the predetermined times of occurrence of said expected variations, as an indication of the presence of a defect.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
59 words
The electronic system for inspecting medicinal capsules or the like containing built-in deviations as claimed in claim 1 wherein said means for scanning an area of a capsule comprises means for spinning the capsule on its axis so as to effect redundant scanning of said area, and a light sensor for optically viewing the said area of the capsule.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
23 words
The electronic system of claim 2 with the addition of means for successively indexing spinning capsules into and out of an inspection position.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
18 words
The electronic system of claim 3 wherein said light sensor includes an array of self-scanning photo sensitive cells.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
28 words
The electronic system of claim 3 wherein said light sensor includes a photo cell for observing the changes in reflected light from the scanned area of the capsule.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
20 words
The electronic system of claim 5 wherein said means for discriminating includes means to convert said variations into digital signals.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
31 words
The electronic system of claim 6 wherein said means to convert said variations into digital signals includes means to disregard any of said variations which are below a predetermined amplitude level.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
46 words
The electronic system of claim 6 wherein said means for discriminating further comprises an oscillator and means to compare the number of output oscillations from said oscillator occurring during said predetermined interval with the number of said oscillations occurring between any two of said signal variations.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
113 words
The electronic system of claim 8 wherein said means to compare the number of output oscillations comprises a counter coupled to said oscillator and to said digital signals for counting the number of oScillations originating from said oscillator and for being reset when one of said digital signals occur, and logic switch means coupled to the output of said counter and set at a predetermined number corresponding to the number of said oscillations occurring during said predetermined interval, the output of said logic switch means indicating whether or not said counter has received a sufficient number of said oscillations to equal said predetermined number before being reset by one of said digital signals.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
28 words
The electronic system of claim 9 including means for controlling the selective rejection of the capsule being inspected in accordance with the output of said logic switch means.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
39 words
The electronic system of claim 10, wherein said means for controlling the selective rejection of a capsule includes means for effecting the rejection of a capsule after the inspected capsule has been indexed to a preselected subsequent index station.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
20 words
The electronic system of claim 11 wherein said means for effecting the rejection of a capsule comprises a shift register.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
30 words
The electronic system of claim 10 including a counter for counting the number of capsules thereby rejected, and a second counter for counting the number of capsules not thereby rejected.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
35 words
The electronic system of claim 10 including means for synchronizing the movement of said means for successively indexing capsules with the operation of said means for controlling the selective rejection of the capsule being inspected.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
28 words
The electronic system of claim 13 with the addition of means for the presentation of the percentage of capsules rejected out of the total number of capsules inspected.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
20 words
The electronic system of claim 15 including warning means for generating a signal upon said percentage exceeding a predetermined level.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
71 words
The electronic system of claim 14 wherein said means for the presentation of the percentage of capsules not rejected comprises, a first counter for counting the total number of capsules inspected, a second counter for counting the number of capsules not rejected, control means for stopping said second counter upon the contents of said first counter reaching a preselected count level, and for concurrently displaying the contents of said second counter.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
35 words
The electronic system of claim 10 including means for synchronizing the movement of said means for successively indexing capsules with the operation of said means for controlling the slective rejection of the capsule being inspected.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
14 words
The electronic system of claim 8 wherein said oscillator is a crystal controlled oscillator.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
27 words
The electronic system of claim 1 wherein said means for discriminating includes triggering means for initiating operation of said detection means when a signal variation first occurs.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
144 words
An electronic system for inspecting medicinal capsules or the like containing one or more built-in deviations comprising means for optically scanning areas of a capsule and for generating from such scanning a plurality of analog signals containing signal variations characteristic of said built-in deviations which may contain similar signal variations characteristic of capsule defects in the scanned areas, means for discriminating between signal variations caused by said built-in deviations and occurring at predetermined intervals and signal variations caused by defects and occurring at other times, including means to detect the occurrence of signal variations at intervals shorter than said predetermined intervals as a first indication of the presence of a defect, and means for detecting variations occurring in signals from areas having none of said built-in deviations and means for using such detected variations as a second indication of the presence of a defect.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
144 words
An electronic system for inspecting medicinal capsules or the like containing one or more built-in deviations comprising means for optically scanning areas of a capsule and for generating from such scanning a plurality of analog signals containing signal variations characteristic of said built-in deviations which may contain similar signal variations characteristic of capsule defects in the scanned areas, means for discriminating between signal variations caused by said built-in deviations and occurring at predetermined intervals and signal variations caused by defects and occurring at other times, including means to detect the occurrence of signal variations at intervals shorter than said predetermined intervals as a first indication of the presence of a defect, and means for detecting variations occurring in signals from areas having none of said built-in deviations and means for using such detected variations as a second indication of the presence of a defect.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
47 words
The electronic system of claim 21 including means for logically summing said first and second indications, and a rejection control coupled to said summing means for effecting the selectivE rejection of the capsule being inspected in accordance with the logical sum of said first and second indications.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
20 words
The electronic system of claim 22 which further comprises display means for storing and displaying the number of rejected capsules.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
34 words
The electronic system of claim 22 which further comprises means for presenting the numerical representation of the percentage of capsules rejected with respect to the total number of capsules inspected during a predetermined interval.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
46 words
The electronic system of claim 22 wherein said means for scanning areas of a capsule includes means for spinning a capsule, a plurality of light sensors for repeatedly observing respective areas of the spinning capsule and for generating a plurality of analog signals containing redundant variations.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
24 words
The electronic system of claim 25, including means for ignoring any of said first and second indications until the generation of a signal variation.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
35 words
The electronic system of claim 22 which further comprises means for presenting the numerical representation of the percentage of capsules not rejected with respect to the total number of capsules inspected during a predetermined interval.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
45 words
The electronic system of claim 21 wherein said means for scanning areas of a capsule includes means for spinning the capsule on its axis so as to effect redundant scanning of said areas, and a light sensor for optically viewing said areas of the capsule.
Claim 31
Dependent Claim
28 words
The electronic system of claim 21 wherein said means for discriminating includes triggering means for initiating operation of said means to detect when a signal variation first occurs.
Claim 32
Dependent Claim
105 words
An electronic system for inspecting rapidly presented and rotated medicinal capsules having one or more built-in deviations comprising, a photo detector for generating one or more analog signals containing variations representative of defects and built-in deviations on a capsule, analog to digital converter means for converting said analog signals to signals comprised of digital pulses corresponding to said built-in deviations and defects, means to distinguish between said digital pulses corresponding to defects and said digital pulses corresponding to built-in deviations, and rejection means selectively operated in accordance with said distinguishing means for rejecting a capsule when a digital pulse corresponding to a defect has occurred.
Claim 33
Dependent Claim
105 words
An electronic system for inspecting rapidly presented and rotated medicinal capsules having one or more built-in deviations comprising, a photo detector for generating one or more analog signals containing variations representative of defects and built-in deviations on a capsule, analog to digital converter means for converting said analog signals to signals comprised of digital pulses corresponding to said built-in deviations and defects, means to distinguish between said digital pulses corresponding to defects and said digital pulses corresponding to built-in deviations, and rejection means selectively operated in accordance with said distinguishing means for rejecting a capsule when a digital pulse corresponding to a defect has occurred.
Claim 34
Dependent Claim
19 words
The electronic system of claim 30 which further comprises a reject counter for storing the number of capsules rejected.
Claim 35
Dependent Claim
23 words
The electronic system of claim 30 which further comprises a not rejected counter for storing the number of capsules inspected but not rejected.
Claim 36
Independent Claim
119 words
A method of electronically inspecting medicinal capsules having one or more built-in deviations, which comprises the steps of repeatedly scanning the surface of a capsule, generating an analog signal characteristic of both the said built-in deviations and any capsule defects, and having variations in accordance with said built-in deviations and said defects, discriminating between said analog signal variations corresponding to said built-in deviations and those corresponding to said defects, storing the number of signal variations corresponding to said defects, comparing said number of signal variations corresponding to said defects with a preselected minimum number of allowable variations, and rejecting the capsule if said minimum number is less than or equal to said number of variations corresponding to said defects.
Claim 37
Independent Claim
119 words
A method of electronically inspecting medicinal capsules having one or more built-in deviations, which comprises the steps of repeatedly scanning the surface of a capsule, generating an analog signal characteristic of both the said built-in deviations and any capsule defects, and having variations in accordance with said built-in deviations and said defects, discriminating between said analog signal variations corresponding to said built-in deviations and those corresponding to said defects, storing the number of signal variations corresponding to said defects, comparing said number of signal variations corresponding to said defects with a preselected minimum number of allowable variations, and rejecting the capsule if said minimum number is less than or equal to said number of variations corresponding to said defects.
Claim 38
Dependent Claim
119 words
The method of claim 33 wherein said discriminating steps comprises the steps of converting said variations in said analog signal to digital signals, counting output oscillations of an oscillator with a controllable counter, resetting said controllable counter to a zero count with said digital signals, comparing the count attained by said counter with a predetermined count when a digital signal corresponding to one Of said deviations occurs, said predetermined count corresponding to the number of said oscillations expected to occur between the occurrence of said digital signals corresponding to said built-in deviations, and signaling that a defect exists in said capsule if the count attained by said counter is less than said predetermined count at the time of comparison.
Claim 39
Dependent Claim
17 words
The method of claim 34 which further comprises the step of counting the number of rejected capsules.
Claim 40
Dependent Claim
39 words
The method of claim 34 which further comprises the steps of counting the number of rejected capsules, counting the number of capsules thereby inspected, and presenting the percentage of capsules rejected out of a predetermined number of capsules inspected.
Claim 41
Independent Claim
151 words
The method of calim 33 wherein said repeatedly scanning step comprises the steps of spinning a capsule for a plurality of times in an inspection position, and observing areas of the spinning capsule with a plurality of light sensors. 38.An electronic system for inspecting medicinal capsules or the like, comprising means for optically scanning an area of a capsule; means for generating from such scanning an analog signal containing variations characteristic of capsule defects in said scanned area; means for processing said signal and said signal variations, rejection means responsive to said processing means for rejecting a capsule having a defect in said scanned area; first counting means for counting the number of capsules thereby rejected or the number of capsules thereby not rejected; and calculation means for calculating and presenting the percentage of the capsules rejected or not rejected with respect to a predetermined number of capsules which are inspected.
Claim 42
Independent Claim
151 words
The method of calim 33 wherein said repeatedly scanning step comprises the steps of spinning a capsule for a plurality of times in an inspection position, and observing areas of the spinning capsule with a plurality of light sensors. 38.An electronic system for inspecting medicinal capsules or the like, comprising means for optically scanning an area of a capsule; means for generating from such scanning an analog signal containing variations characteristic of capsule defects in said scanned area; means for processing said signal and said signal variations, rejection means responsive to said processing means for rejecting a capsule having a defect in said scanned area; first counting means for counting the number of capsules thereby rejected or the number of capsules thereby not rejected; and calculation means for calculating and presenting the percentage of the capsules rejected or not rejected with respect to a predetermined number of capsules which are inspected.
Claim 43
Dependent Claim
84 words
The electronic system of claim 38 wherein said calculation means comprises a second counting means for counting the number of capsules which are inspected, control means responsive to said second counting means, display means for displaying said percentage, said control means including means for detecting when said second counting means has counted said predetermined number of inspected capsules and for presenting the count reached by said first counting means to said display means when said predetermined number has been counted by said second counter.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1976-09-10 | 1977-03-12 | 1977-09-11 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 1980-09-10 | 1981-03-12 | 1981-09-11 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 1984-09-10 | 1985-03-12 | 1985-09-11 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |