US3811552A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Capsule inspection apparatus and method
Assignee: Eli Lilly and Co
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Filing: 1973-01-31
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Granted: 1974-05-21
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Expires: 1993-01-31
Abstract
Abstract Apparatus for handling medicinal capsules at high rates, e.g., 900 per minute, to present them in succession, in uniform orientation, at an inspection position and there spin them on their axes to expose their entire surfaces for inspection as by optical means. Bulk capsules are loaded from a hopper into the cavities of a chain conveyor running up an incline. A pair of spaced rolls define a feed slot from the hopper to the conveyor along the line of cavity travel. The rolls rotate outward to move misaligned capsules away, induced air flow urges aligned capsules through the slot and into the cavities, and an agitator bar dislodges capsules from double-filled cavities. To rectify body-forward capsules to cap-forward position, each cavity has a bottom slot between side ribs, which will pass the body but retain the cap of the capsule. As the cavity moves off the end of a capsule-supporting rail, a forward capsule body is swung downward by gravity and induced airflow through the slot to tilt the capsule to an upright position. A brush then tilts the upright capsule forward, and a camming belt moves it to a capforward position in its cavity. Pick-up transfer fingers in the upper conveyor sprocket wheel are advanced through the cavities to lift the capsules therefrom on suction seats and transfer them to an inspection head at a loading station. The inspection head has a ring of parallel rolls, each pair of which forms a groove in which a capsule is retained by air flow. The head indexes to carry capsules from the loading station to an inspection station where rotation of the rolls spins each capsule on its axis to expose its entire surface for optical inspection. The capsules are discharged at a reject or accept station, depending on the inspection result.
Inventors
- 👤 R Bollman
- 👤 R Ramsey
- 👤 W Wagers
- 👤 W Vandenberg
- 👤 D Swisher
- 👤 J Taylor
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-03 09:51
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; B; B65; B65G; B65G47/00; B65G47/02; B65G47/04; B65G47/12; B65G47/14; B65G47/1407; B65G47/1442; B65G47/1471
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 11
Claim 1
Independent Claim
187 words
Apparatus for handling medicinal capsules and the like, comprising a conveyor forming a continuous series of longitudinally spaced capsule-conveying cavities and operative to move the same lengthwise along a conveyor path through an elongated loading zone in which a plurality of cavities are simultaneously exposed for loading, said cavities having an elongated shape to contain single capsules disposed lengthwise in the direction of conveyor movement, each cavity being freely open at a loading side to receive a capsule from that side and having an opening at another side at which air flow through the cavity may be induced, means forming a feed slot along the exposed cavities, a hopper disposed to supply capsules to the feed slot, a bar disposed longitudinally above the feed slot and having resilient fingers extending through the slot into proximity with the open loading sides of the conveyor, so as to cause said fingers to dislodge upstanding capsules in the cavities, means to induce air flow through said feed slot and the cavities opposite the same to positively urge properly aligned capsules to pass through the feed slot and into the cavities.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
187 words
Apparatus for handling medicinal capsules and the like, comprising a conveyor forming a continuous series of longitudinally spaced capsule-conveying cavities and operative to move the same lengthwise along a conveyor path through an elongated loading zone in which a plurality of cavities are simultaneously exposed for loading, said cavities having an elongated shape to contain single capsules disposed lengthwise in the direction of conveyor movement, each cavity being freely open at a loading side to receive a capsule from that side and having an opening at another side at which air flow through the cavity may be induced, means forming a feed slot along the exposed cavities, a hopper disposed to supply capsules to the feed slot, a bar disposed longitudinally above the feed slot and having resilient fingers extending through the slot into proximity with the open loading sides of the conveyor, so as to cause said fingers to dislodge upstanding capsules in the cavities, means to induce air flow through said feed slot and the cavities opposite the same to positively urge properly aligned capsules to pass through the feed slot and into the cavities.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
72 words
Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 which includes a pair of friction rolls disposed in laterally spaced relation opposite the open loading side of the cavities in the loading zone at opposite sides of the feed slot to form a portion of said slot, and means to rotate said rolls to move their slot-forming surfaces away and outward from said cavities, whereby to urge mis-aligned capsules away from said feed slot.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
56 words
Apparatus as set forth in claim 2 in which said conveyor runs up an incline through the loading zone, and the bar and friction rolls are similarly inclIned, whereby capsules dislodged by the fingers and urged away from the feed slot by the friction rolls tend to move toward the beginning end of the loading zone.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
108 words
Apparatus for handling medicinal capsules and the like, comprising, a conveyor comprising a series of buckets having body portions movable along a linear conveyor path, said body portions containing elongated cavities shaped to loosely confine individual capsules and arranged to move endwise in a spaced series along said path, each cavity along said path having an upward-facing loading opening and a downward-facing air-passing opening, an underlying rail along which said body portions ride as they traverse said path, opening means along said rail communicating with the cavities of the overlying body portions, and means to apply suction to said opening means to induce air flow through said cavities.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
108 words
Apparatus for handling medicinal capsules and the like, comprising, a conveyor comprising a series of buckets having body portions movable along a linear conveyor path, said body portions containing elongated cavities shaped to loosely confine individual capsules and arranged to move endwise in a spaced series along said path, each cavity along said path having an upward-facing loading opening and a downward-facing air-passing opening, an underlying rail along which said body portions ride as they traverse said path, opening means along said rail communicating with the cavities of the overlying body portions, and means to apply suction to said opening means to induce air flow through said cavities.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
84 words
Apparatus as set forth in claim 4 in which said conveyor path extends through a loading zone in which a plurality of cavities are exposed for loading, a hopper and a feed slot therefrom for feeding capsules from the hopper to the exposed cavities, said opening means being located along said loading zone and arranged to induce airflow at a plurality of cavities through the feed slot from the hopper to the cavities, and means to prevent misaligned capsules from obstructing said feed slot.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
57 words
Apparatus as set forth in claim 5 in which said means to prevent feed-slot obstruction comprises a pair of friction rolls disposed in spaced parallel relation at opposite sides of said feed slot at the entrance thereto from said hopper, and means to rotate said rolls to carry their slot-defining surfaces upward and outward of the slot.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
47 words
Apparatus as set forth in claim 5 further comprising, a support above said feed slot having yieldable fingers extending through the feed slot into proximity with the upward-facing loading openings of the bucket cavities, so as to cause said fingers to dislodge upstanding capsules in said cavities.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
146 words
Apparatus as set forth in claim 4 in which said conveyor path extends through a rectifying zone, the downward-facing openings of said cavities being rectifying slots defined by spaced longitudinal ribs, the slot width and rib spacing being such as to pass the body of a capsule but retain the cap thereof, said rail forming a shoulder across which the rail-supported capsules are carried, whereby at an intermediate position a body-forward capsule will have its rearward cap end supported by the rail adjacent the shoulder and its forward body end projecting unsupported beyond the shoulder, said opening means including an opening at said shoulder for inducing airflow against the projecting body end of the capsule at such intermediate position to tilt the same about the shoulder to an upstanding position, and means to further tilt and move the capsule to a cap-forward position in the cavity.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
86 words
Apparatus as set forth in claim 4 with the addition of a wheel mounted beyond the rail and about which the conveyor travels in an arcuate path about the axis of the wheel, a series of plungers mounted in said wheel and movable radially thereof from a retracted position outward through the cavities of the conveyor, said plungers having capsule-supporting seats at the ends thereof and being operative to pick up the capsules from the cavities and move them to an elevated position outside the conveyor.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
US1460778A
Cited
US3556282A
Cited
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1977-05-20 | 1977-11-19 | 1978-05-21 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 1981-05-20 | 1981-11-19 | 1982-05-21 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 1985-05-20 | 1985-11-19 | 1986-05-21 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |