JP5993355B2 - Foreign object inspection apparatus and syringe collection method for foreign object inspection apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a foreign substance inspection apparatus for a syringe and a syringe collection method for a foreign substance inspection apparatus.

  2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, prefilled syringes that are preliminarily filled with a medical solution in a syringe barrel (syringe) are widely used. This prefilled syringe is labeled with the name, concentration, expiration date, etc. of the medicine filled in the syringe, and can be used as a syringe by screwing the pusher into a gasket (rubber plug), or a dialysis machine, etc. It is possible to set and use.

  In order to administer ampules or injections in vials to a patient, a predetermined amount of drug solution must be aspirated once with a syringe. The adjuster may have to adjust the concentration of the drug with a syringe. On the other hand, since the prefilled syringe is prefilled with an accurate dosage at an accurate concentration, these suction process and dispensing process can be omitted. The introduction of prefilled syringes can be expected to prevent medical accidents such as drug mix-up and misadministration, and to reduce the risk of contamination and bacterial contamination. Moreover, since the process until the medicine is administered to the patient can be shortened, it is possible to contribute to the improvement of the efficiency of work in the medical field. Furthermore, even with a prefilled syringe, even a drug having a problem with exposure to the adjuster can be administered to the patient while maintaining safety to the adjuster.

FIG. 13 is a view showing the appearance of a prefilled syringe.
The syringe 4 a has a tip cap 44 a attached to the needle tip portion of a glass or plastic syringe barrel (syringe body) 41. The diameter of the tip cap 44 a is configured to be smaller than the diameter of the syringe barrel 41. The substantially cylindrical syringe 41 is made of a transparent material in order to perform a foreign substance inspection of the liquid medicine to be filled. A rubber stopper 43 is inserted inside the syringe barrel 41, and the drug solution to be filled is held in the syringe barrel 41. At the lowermost part of the syringe barrel 41, a flange 42 projects in a disk shape.

FIG. 14 is a view showing the appearance of a luer lock type prefilled syringe.
The luer lock type syringe 4b has a glass or plastic injection tube 41 similar to the syringe 4a, and unlike the syringe 4a, the luer lock 44b is attached by being screwed into the spiral crest of the injection tube 41. . Since the luer lock 44b is helically coupled in this way, there is less risk of unintentional disconnection from the syringe barrel 41. Unlike the diameter of the tip cap 44a, the diameter of the luer lock 44b is configured to be larger than the diameter of the syringe barrel 41.
Similarly to the syringe 4a, a rubber stopper 43 is inserted into the syringe barrel 41 of the syringe 4b, and the filled drug solution is held in the syringe barrel 41. At the lowermost part of the syringe barrel 41, a flange 42 projects in a disk shape.

  The syringe foreign matter inspection device was developed for the purpose of comprehensively inspecting the foreign matter and appearance of the syringe. Since the appearance inspection items of the syringe are diverse, the foreign substance inspection apparatus is designed so that many high-precision cameras can be mounted. These high-accuracy cameras can detect foreign matter in the syringe liquid, the liquid level, and the liquid bottom with high accuracy. In this way, the foreign substance inspection apparatus inspects each syringe as a subject and sorts it into a non-defective product, a defective appearance product, a defective foreign product, and the like.

  As a background art of this technical field, there is Patent Document 1. The problem of Patent Document 1 is that “in the inspection of a container-packed liquid product, a re-inspection of an uninspected product and a plurality of inspections of a subject can be performed smoothly without human intervention”. .

  The solution of Patent Document 1 states that “the subject image inspection apparatus 20 is provided in the vicinity of the outer periphery of the examination rotor 10 and acquires an appearance image of the subject that is held and moved by the holding portion of the examination rotor 10. The inspection control device 30 checks whether the subject is defective based on the appearance image The inspection control device 30 determines whether the subject is a non-defective product, a defective product, or an untested product based on the inspection result of the subject image inspection device 20. For a subject that has been determined to be untested, the subject separation star foil 60 is controlled to pass the subject to the subject regression star foil 70, and the subject is examined. Control is performed so as to return to the rotor 10. At that time, the examination control device 30 controls the conveyance suppression gate provided in the input subject conveyance device 40 to carry the subject to the subject supply star wheel 50. A has been described as to stop. ".

JP 2012-202767 A

Even if it is a syringe other than a syringe determined to be a non-defective product by the foreign substance inspection apparatus, the inspection may be required again. For example, if it is forcibly stopped during the foreign substance inspection process, the syringe positioned on the internal conveyor, rotor, and star wheel of the foreign substance inspection apparatus is discharged as uninspected. These untested syringes need to be tested again. Moreover, even if the syringe is determined to be an appearance defect or a foreign matter defect, there are cases where a syringe that requires re-examination is included.
Conventional foreign matter inspection devices do not consider re-inspection of the syringe. Moreover, although the foreign material inspection apparatus of patent document 1 conveys an uninspected syringe and reinspects it, it was dropped into the discharge box (tray) and collected without considering reinspection of defective syringes. . The syringe dropped in the discharge box may be scratched or abnormal bubbles may be generated. Therefore, it was difficult to inspect the collected syringe again.

  Then, this invention makes it a subject to provide the syringe collection | recovery method of the foreign material test | inspection apparatus and foreign material test | inspection apparatus which do not damage a syringe and is easy to re-examine and collects it upside down.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, in the invention of the foreign matter inspection device according to claim 1, a conveying device that conveys each upright syringe with a flange down at a predetermined interval, and a syringe that the conveying device conveys In the state where the container collapsed portion to be collapsed, the syringe collapsed by the container collapsed portion is fitted in the groove and the flange is mounted, the recovery chute to be slid and discharged, and the syringe discharged from the recovery chute are flanged to the upper portion of the groove And a recovery rail that is slid from the start end to the end end of the recovery rail.

  According to the invention of the syringe collection method for the foreign substance inspection apparatus according to claim 9, the upright syringes with the flanges down are conveyed at predetermined intervals by the conveying device. The syringe transported by the transport device is tilted by a container tilting section, and the syringe collapsed by the container tilting section is slid and discharged in a state where it is fitted in the groove of the collection chute and is covered with a flange. And the syringe discharged | emitted from the said collection | recovery chute is slid from the start end of the said collection rail to the termination | terminus in the state which spanned the flange on the upper part of the groove | channel of a collection rail, and is collect | recovered.

In this way, according to the present invention, the syringe can be recovered without being damaged, and can be easily inspected upside down.
Other means will be described in the embodiment for carrying out the invention.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the syringe collection | recovery method of the foreign material test | inspection apparatus and foreign material test | inspection apparatus which do not damage a syringe and is easy to re-examine and collects it upside down can be provided.

It is a top view which shows after the container selection part of the foreign material inspection apparatus in 1st Embodiment. It is the top view and side view which show the collection | recovery chute | shoot and the collection | recovery rail in 1st Embodiment. It is the side view and top view which show operation | movement of the collection | recovery chute in 1st Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the locked state of the syringe release part in 1st Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the release state of the syringe release part in 1st Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the release state of the support part in 1st Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the locked state of the support part in 1st Embodiment. It is the top view and side view which show the collection | recovery chute | shoot and collection | recovery rail of the modification of 1st Embodiment. It is the side view and top view which show operation | movement of the collection | recovery chute | shoot of the modification of 1st Embodiment. It is the top view and side view which show the collection | recovery chute | shoot and the collection | recovery rail in 2nd Embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the control circuit of the collection | recovery chute in 2nd Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the process of the control circuit in 2nd Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the external appearance of the prefilled syringe whose diameter of a needle point is thinner than a flange diameter. It is a figure which shows the external appearance of a luer lock type prefilled syringe.

Hereinafter, embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a plan view illustrating a container sorting unit and subsequent parts of the foreign matter inspection apparatus according to the first embodiment.
As shown in FIG. 1, the foreign matter inspection apparatus 1 includes a discrimination moving device (not shown) that discriminates whether the syringe 4 a (see FIG. 13) is good or bad, and a container sorting that carries and sorts the discriminated syringe 4 a. The unit 2 includes a collection unit 3 that collects the selected syringe 4a. The foreign matter inspection apparatus 1 inspects the presence or absence of foreign matters attached to the syringe 4a filled with the chemical solution and the appearance of scratches, and sorts and discharges non-defective products and defective products.

The container selection unit 2 includes star wheels 21 and 22a to 22c for separating syringes, guide members 23a to 23c, and three sets of conveyors 24R and 24L for separating syringes. The container sorting unit 2 carries and sorts the syringe that is determined to be defective in appearance, foreign matter, or uninspected.
A star wheel 21 indicated by a broken line is for transporting the syringe 4a transported from an unillustrated discrimination moving device to any one of the star wheels 22a to 22c in a counterclockwise direction. The star wheel 21 is transferred to the star wheel 22a if the syringe 4a is not inspected, transferred to the star wheel 22b if the syringe 4a is defective in appearance, and transferred to the star wheel 22c if the syringe 4a is defective in foreign matter. The star wheel 21 conveys the syringe 4a in an upright state with the flange 42 down.

  Each of the star wheels 22a to 22c conveys the syringe 4a conveyed from the syringe wheel 21 for separating syringes clockwise between the guide members 23a to 23c, and each adjacent conveyor 24R for separating syringes, It is conveyed to 24L. Each star wheel 22a to 22c conveys the syringe 4a in an upright state with the flange 42 down, like the star wheel 21.

  The conveyors 24R and 24L for separating syringes are conveying devices that convey the upright syringes 4a with the flanges 42 downward at predetermined intervals, and are provided with rollers that rotate and belts stretched around these rollers. It has been. The operation of the conveyors 24R and 24L will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

  The collection unit 3 includes a pedestal 31, an inclined pedestal 32 provided on the pedestal 31, three sets of collection chutes 33a to 33c provided on the inclined pedestal 32, and two collection rails 34R, 34L. The collection unit 3 collects the syringe 4a that has been discharged without being damaged, and is easily re-inspected and turned upside down. The operation of the collection unit 3 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. Hereinafter, when the collection chutes 33a to 33c are not particularly distinguished, they are simply referred to as the collection chutes 33.

Each collection chute 33 has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape, and includes a container falling part 331, side guides 332 </ b> R and 332 </ b> L, a collection change guide 334, and a beam part 335.
Side grooves 332 </ b> R and 332 </ b> L are provided in the vicinity of the start end of the groove 333 formed in the central portion in the longitudinal direction of the collection chute 33. On the upper part of the side guides 332R and 332L, a container declining portion 331 protruding in the inlet direction is provided. Hereinafter, when the side guides 332R and 332L are not particularly distinguished, they are simply referred to as side guides 332.
The groove 333 branches into two at the point of the collection change guide 334. The two branched grooves 333 are connected to the grooves 343 of the two recovery rails 34R and 34L that can be attached and detached, respectively.

The container falling portion 331 is installed on the side guides 332R and 332L so as to protrude toward the inlet side of the collection chute 33. The container tilting part 331 tilts the syringe 4a conveyed by the conveyors 24R and 24L and turns it upside down. The container falling part 331 can adjust the left-right direction. Thereby, an operator can adjust the positional relationship between the container falling portion 331 and the conveyors 24R and 24L, and can properly drop the syringe 4a.
The collection change guide 334 is a branch switching mechanism for the groove 333, and is manually switched so that the syringe 4a is slid into one of the two branches 333. As a result, the collection change guide 334 can continue the collection by switching to the collection rail 34L even when the collection rail 34R is full. Hereinafter, when the recovery rails 34R and 34L are not particularly distinguished, they are simply referred to as the recovery rail 34.
The beam portion 335 is fixed so that the left and right portions of the recovery chute 33 are not separated.

  The collection rail 34 is installed on the support column 36 so that the start end of the collection rail 34 is in contact with the collection chute 33 and the groove 333 branched into two of the collection chute 33 is connected to the own groove 343. By installing in this way, the recovery rail 34 can recover the syringe 4a discharged from the recovery chute 33 by sliding it from its start end to its end. The operation of the recovery rail 34 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. The collection rail 34 from which the syringe 4a has been collected can be directly connected to a container input unit (not shown) of the foreign substance inspection apparatus 1 to reinspect the collected syringe 4a. That is, the collection unit 3 can be reversed upside down by the collection chute 33 and collected on the collection rail 34 so that the syringe 4a can be easily re-inspected.

At the end of each collection rail 34, a syringe release section 344 that releases the collected syringe 4a is provided. Details of the syringe release portion 344 will be described with reference to FIGS.
At the start end of each recovery rail 34, a support portion 345 is provided that can support the syringe 4a so that the syringe 4a does not fall from the start end when each recovery rail 34 is removed from the recovery chute 33. Details of the support portion 345 will be described with reference to FIGS.
The sensor 35 is provided on the tilt base 32 so as to detect the syringe 4a on the six collection rails 34. The sensor 35 detects whether or not the syringe 4a exists at a predetermined position of each collection rail 34, and thereby detects whether or not any of the collection rails 34 is filled with the syringe 4a. If the sensor 35 detects the syringe 4a over a predetermined period, the foreign matter inspection apparatus 1 is filled with the syringe 4a because one of the recovery rails 34 is filled with a warning lamp (not shown) or a warning sound. Notify that.

FIG. 2 is a plan view and a side view showing the collection chute and the collection rail in the first embodiment. FIG. 2 shows a plan view and a side view of the collection chute 33b and the collection rail 34 at the center of the three collection chutes 33a to 33c and the collection rail 34 shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 2, the star wheel 22b and the conveyors 24R and 24L are installed horizontally, and are configured to convey each of the upright syringes 4a with the flange 42 down, in the horizontal direction. In the vicinity of the outlets of the conveyors 24R and 24L, a container falling portion 331 and side guides 332R and 332L are installed.
The collection chute 33b is installed obliquely by the support column 336 on the tilt table 32 so as to be inclined in the direction of the collection rail 34. The recovery rail 34 is installed on the support column 36 so that the start end of its own groove 343 is continuous with the groove 333 of the recovery chute 33 and the end is inclined downward from its own start end. By installing in this way, the syringe 4a turned upside down slides down without being retained by the collection chute 33b and is collected by the collection rail 34.
The inclination of the collection rail 34 is gentler than the inclination of the collection chute 33. Thereby, the syringe 4a turned upside down slides more gently on the collection rail 34 than the collection chute 33, and can be collected without damaging these syringes 4a.

FIG. 3 is a side view and a plan view showing the operation of the recovery chute 33 in the first embodiment. In order to show each syringe 4a, each part of the collection chute 33 is omitted.
The conveyors 24 </ b> R and 24 </ b> L sandwich the syringe 4 a between both belts and convey the syringe 4 a to the collection chute 33 of the collection unit 3. Each conveyor 24R, 24L conveys the syringe 4a in an upright state with the flange 42 on the bottom.
The upright syringe 4a with the flange 42 on the bottom is conveyed horizontally by the conveyors 24R and 24L. Since this syringe 4a is knocked down by the container tilting portion 331, it is transported at a predetermined interval such that the tilted syringe 4a does not hit the next syringe 4a. That is, the conveyors 24R and 24L convey the syringes 4a while taking timing so that the syringes 4a are at a predetermined interval. The conveyors 24R and 24L, for example, leave the syringe 4a at a predetermined interval by transporting the syringe 4a faster than the transport speed in the star wheel 22b. As a result, the syringe 4a does not hit the next syringe 4a when it is collapsed by the container collapse portion 331. Therefore, the foreign substance inspection apparatus 1 can collect the abnormal bubble without preventing the syringe 4a from being damaged.

  The syringe 4 a that is tilted by the container tilting portion 331 is reversed upside down when the syringe barrel 41 is fitted in the groove 333. At this time, the side guides 332 </ b> R and 332 </ b> L guide the tilted syringe 4 a so that it does not jump out of the groove 333. Here, the reason why the syringe 4a is turned upside down is that when the foreign object inspection apparatus 1 starts the inspection of the syringe 4a, the tip cap 44a that protects the needle tip of the syringe 4a is protected downward, and the safety of the operator This is to ensure the sex. Therefore, even when the syringe 4a is re-inspected by the foreign substance inspection apparatus 1, the syringe 4a is collected with the tip cap 44a protecting the needle tip facing downward.

The groove 333 has a width wider than the diameter of the syringe barrel 41 so that the needle tip portion (portion protected by the tip cap 44a) of the syringe 4a is not damaged. When the syringe 4a is turned upside down, the width of the groove 333 is narrower than the diameter of the flange 42 so that the flange 42 extends over the groove 333.
The syringe 4a in a state where the groove 42 is inserted in the groove 333 and the flange 42 is hung on the upper portion of the groove 333 slides on the inclination of the collection chute 33 with its own weight. The syringe 4a is recovered by sliding gently on the gently inclined groove 343 of the recovery rail 34L. Thereby, the syringe 4a can collect | recover, preventing generation | occurrence | production of an abnormal bubble, without damaging.

  When the collection rail 34L collects the syringe 4a full, the operator switches the collection change guide 334 so that the syringe 4a is collected on the empty collection rail 34R (see FIG. 2), and the full collection rail Manually replace 34L with another available one. Thereby, the syringe 4a can be continuously collected.

  In order to turn the syringe 4a upside down, it is possible to use a mechanism that reverses while pushing it out with a screw or a mechanism that lifts and reverses the container with a robot. However, a mechanism using a screw or a mechanism using a robot is expensive and requires a lot of space. On the other hand, the collection chute 33 of the first embodiment is simple and inexpensive, and can operate in a small space.

(Configuration and operation of syringe release unit 344)
When a large number of defects occur in the foreign substance inspection apparatus 1, a large number of syringes 4a are collected on the collection rail 34 at a time in a short time. In such a case, the operator must prevent a further abnormal situation by releasing the syringe 4a recovered from the recovery rail 34. In such a case, the syringe release unit 344 of the first embodiment releases the syringe 4a. As shown in FIG. 1, the syringe release portion 344 is provided at the end of each collection rail 34.

FIG. 4 is a plan view and a side view showing the locked state of the syringe release portion 344 in the first embodiment. 4 is a plan view and the lower side of FIG. 4 is a side view.
As shown in FIG. 4, the recovery rail 34 includes two rectangular parallelepiped metal portions 341R and 341L and resin portions 342R and 342L bonded to the inside of the metal portions 341R and 341L. The groove 343 between the resin portions 342R and 342L is configured to be wider than the diameter of the syringe barrel 41 and narrower than the diameter of the flange 42 so that the syringe 4a can be collected. In addition, the syringe 4a collect | recovered with the dashed-dotted line is shown by the following FIGS. 4-7.
A syringe release part 344 is provided at the end of the collection rail 34. The syringe release portion 344 includes a shaft 3441 that is fixed to the metal portions 341R and 341L, and an end portion 3442 that is rotatably provided around the shaft 3441. The syringe release portion 344 is normally locked between the metal portions 341R and 341L by a lock mechanism (not shown). At this time, since the syringe 4a recovered in the groove 343 is supported by the end 3442 of the syringe release portion 344, the syringe 4a does not naturally fall from the recovery rail 34.

FIG. 5 is a plan view and a side view showing the released state of the syringe release portion 344 in the first embodiment. 5 is a plan view and the lower side of FIG. 5 is a side view.
As shown in FIG. 5, when the syringe release portion 344 is released by an external force or the like, the syringe release portion 344 rotates counterclockwise about the shaft 3441 (in the direction indicated by the one-dot chain line in the lower diagram of FIG. 4). It rotates and comes off between the metal parts 341R and 341L. At this time, the syringe 4 a recovered in the groove 343 is not supported by the end portion 3442, and falls from the end of the recovery rail 34. As a result, the operator can immediately drop the collected syringe 4 a and release it from the collection rail 34.

(Configuration and operation of support portion 345)
When the recovery rail 34 fully recovers the syringe 4 a and is removed from the recovery chute 33, the recovered syringe 4 a may fall from the start end of the recovery rail 34. In such a case, the support portion 345 supports the syringe 4a so as not to fall from the start end of the collection rail 34. As shown in FIG. 1, the support portion 345 is provided at the start end of each recovery rail 34.
FIG. 6 is a plan view and a side view showing the released state of the support portion 345 in the first embodiment. 6 is a plan view and the lower side of FIG. 6 is a side view.
As shown in FIG. 6, a support portion 345 that can support the syringe 4 a so as not to fall from the start end is provided at the start end on the left side of the collection rail 34. The support portion 345 includes a cylindrical portion 3451 that is bonded sideways to the metal portion 341L, and a flange 3452 that passes through the cylindrical portion 3451 and the metal portion 341L. In the released state, the flange 3452 protrudes to the leftmost side (lower side in FIG. 6) from the recovery rail 34 so as not to block the groove 343 of the recovery rail 34. When the collection rail 34 is collecting the syringe 4a, the support portion 345 is in a released state. Thereby, the collection | recovery rail 34 can open | release the start end of the groove | channel 343, and can collect | recover the syringe 4a.

FIG. 7 is a plan view and a side view showing the locked state of the support portion 345 in the first embodiment. 7 is a plan view and the lower side of FIG. 7 is a side view.
As shown in FIG. 7, the support portion 345 is in a locked state and is most pushed into the cylindrical portion 3451. The flange 3452 passes through the cylindrical portion 3451 and the metal portion 341L, and closes the groove 343. When the recovery rail 34 is removed from the recovery chute 33, the operator pushes the collar 3452 to lock the support portion 345. Thereby, even if this collection | recovery rail 34 is removed from the collection | recovery chute 33, the support part 345 can be supported so that the syringe 4a may not fall from the starting end.

(Modification of the first embodiment)
FIG. 8 is a plan view and a side view showing a collection chute and a collection rail according to a modification of the first embodiment. The same elements as those of the recovery chute 33 and the recovery rail 34 of the first embodiment shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 8, the recovery chute 33A (second recovery chute) of the modification of the first embodiment is different from the recovery chute 33 of the first embodiment in that the groove 333 is not formed, and the container collapse portion 331 is not provided. The collection chute 33A includes side guides 337R and 337L instead of the groove 333. Other than that, it is comprised similarly to the collection | recovery chute 33 of 1st Embodiment. The collection chute 33A is attached in place of the collection chute 33 for the inspection of the syringe 4b (see FIG. 14). The width of the upper part of the side guides 337R and 337L is slightly wider than the diameter of the syringe barrel 41. The width of the lowermost part of the side guides 337R and 337L is wider than the flange 42 of the syringe 4b.
In this manner, by replacing the collection chute 33 of the first embodiment with one corresponding to each subject (syringe), this subject (syringe) can be properly collected.
The recovery rails 34R and 34L of the modification of the first embodiment are configured in the same manner as the recovery rails 34R and 34L of the first embodiment, and further include a support rail 38 at the lower part.

FIGS. 9A and 9B are a side view and a plain view showing the operation of the recovery chute 33A according to the modification of the first embodiment. This modification shows a case where a syringe 4b having a luer lock 44b that is thicker than the diameter of the syringe barrel 41 is inspected. In order to show each syringe 4b, each part of the collection chute 33 is omitted.
The upright syringe 4b with the flange 42 on the bottom is conveyed by conveyors 24R and 24L. The syringe 4b is supported with a luer lock 44b placed on top of the side guides 337R and 337L of the collection chute 33A while being upright, and slides on the collection chute 33A with its own weight. The syringe 4b is discharged to the collection rail 34L by the collection change guide 334. Further, the syringe 4b is recovered by sliding the groove 343 from the start end to the end while standing upright on the support rail 38 with the luer lock 44b on the upper portion of the groove 343 of the recovery rail 34L.

The groove 343 of the recovery rail 34L has a width wider than the diameter of the syringe barrel 41 of the syringe 4b. The width of the groove 343 is narrower than the diameter of the luer lock 44b so that the luer lock 44b extends over the top.
When the collection rail 34L fully collects the syringe 4b, the operator switches the collection change guide 334 so that the syringe 4b is collected to the empty collection rail 34R (see FIG. 8), and the collection rail 34L is freed. Replace with something. Thereby, the syringe 4b can be continuously collected.

(Second Embodiment)
FIG. 10 is a plan view and a side view showing a collection chute and a collection rail in the second embodiment. The same elements as those of the recovery chute 33 and the recovery rail 34 of the first embodiment shown in FIG.
Unlike the collection change guide 334 of the first embodiment, the collection change guide 334B of the second embodiment switches the collection destination of the syringe 4a by an actuator.
A sensor 37R is provided in the vicinity of the starting end of the recovery rail 34R of the second embodiment. The sensor 37R determines whether or not the syringe 4a is present at a predetermined position of the recovery rail 34R, and determines whether or not there is a recovery space for the syringe 4a on the recovery rail 34R. Similarly, the recovery rail 34L of the second embodiment is provided with a sensor 37L near the start end. The sensor 37L determines whether or not the syringe 4a is present at a predetermined position on the recovery rail 34L, and determines whether or not the recovery rail 34L has a recovery space for the syringe 4a. With these sensors 37R and 37L, it is possible to determine whether or not each of the recovery rails 34R and 34L has a recovery space for the syringe 4a.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing the control circuit 5 of the recovery chute 33 in the second embodiment.
As shown in FIG. 11, the input side of the control circuit 5 is connected to the right sensor 37R and the left sensor 37L, and the output side is connected to the recovery change guide 334B and the warning lamp 6. The control circuit 5 switches the collection change guide 334B based on the detection results of the right sensor 37R and the left sensor 37L.
The control circuit 5 is further connected to a main control unit 7 that controls the foreign object inspection apparatus 1 in an integrated manner. Thereby, the control circuit 5 can urgently stop the foreign substance inspection apparatus 1.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing the processing of the control circuit 5 in the second embodiment.
The control circuit 5 monitors the status of each collection rail 34 by periodically starting the process of FIG.
In step S10, the control circuit 5 determines the inputs of the right sensor 37R and the left sensor 37L over a predetermined time. The reason why the control circuit 5 determines the sensor input for a predetermined time is that the syringe 4a that is sliding on the collection rail 34 is excluded from the detection target and the syringe 4a that has been recovered and stopped is the detection target. It is.
The control circuit 5 performs the process of step S11 if both the sensors 37R and 37L are steadily turned off, and performs the process of step S12 if only the left sensor 37L is steadily turned on, and only the right sensor 37R. If is constantly on, the process of step S13 is performed, and if both sensors 37R and 37L are constantly on, the process of step S15 is performed.

In step S11, the control circuit 5 turns off the warning lamp 6 and ends the process of FIG.
In step S12, the control circuit 5 switches the collection change guide 334B to flow the syringe 4a to the right collection rail 34R, and then performs the process of step S14.
In step S13, the control circuit 5 switches the collection change guide 334B so that the syringe 4a flows through the left collection rail 34L.
In step S14, the control circuit 5 turns on the warning lamp 6 and ends the process of FIG. Thereby, the foreign material inspection apparatus 1 can warn the operator that the collection rail 34 is full.
In step S15, the control circuit 5 urgently stops the foreign substance inspection apparatus 1 and ends the process of FIG.
By the processing of steps S10 to S15, the control circuit 5 automatically switches the syringe 4a to flow to the other if one of the recovery rails 34R and 34L is full, and if both of the recovery rails 34R and 34L are full, The inspection device 1 is urgently stopped. Thereby, the operator can leave | separate from operation of the foreign material inspection apparatus 1 until the warning lamp 6 lights. Furthermore, even if the recovery rails 34R and 34L are both full while away, the foreign matter inspection apparatus 1 can automatically stop emergency and prevent further problems.

(Modification)
The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and includes various modifications. For example, the above-described embodiment has been described in detail for easy understanding of the present invention, and is not necessarily limited to the one having all the configurations described. A part of the configuration of one embodiment can be replaced with the configuration of another embodiment, and the configuration of another embodiment can be added to the configuration of one embodiment. Moreover, it is also possible to add, delete, and replace other configurations for a part of the configuration of each embodiment.

  A part or all of the above-described configurations, functions, processing units, processing means, and the like may be realized by hardware such as an integrated circuit. Each of the above-described configurations, functions, and the like may be realized by software by a processor interpreting and executing a program that realizes each function. Information such as programs, tables, and files for realizing each function may be stored in a recording device such as a memory, a hard disk, or an SSD (Solid State Drive), or a recording medium such as a flash memory card or a DVD (Digital Versatile Disk). it can.

In each embodiment, the control lines and information lines indicate what is considered necessary for the explanation, and not all the control lines and information lines on the product are necessarily shown. Actually, it may be considered that almost all the components are connected to each other.
Examples of modifications of the present invention include the following (a) to (b).

(A) The number of collection chutes 33 is not limited to three. Further, the number of collection rails 34 connected to each collection chute 33 is not limited to two.

(B) It is not restricted to the conveyors 24R and 24L that the syringe 4a is conveyed to the container falling part 331, and any conveying device may be used.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Foreign material inspection apparatus 2 Container selection part 21,22a-22c Star wheel 24R, 24L Conveyor (conveyance apparatus)
3 collection | recovery part 31 pedestal 32 inclined base 33,33a-33c collection | recovery chute 33A collection | recovery chute (2nd collection | recovery chute)
331 Container fall part 332, 332R, 332L Side guide 333 Groove 334, 334B Collection change guide 335 Beam part 336 Post 337R, 337L Side guide 34, 34R, 34L Collection rail 343 Groove 344 Syringe release part 345 Support part 35 Sensor 36 Post 37R 37L Sensor 38 Support rail 4a Syringe 4b Syringe (Lure lock type syringe)
41 Syringe 42 Flange 43 Rubber stopper (gasket)
44a Tip cap 44b Luer lock 5 Control circuit 6 Warning lamp 7 Main controller

Claims (9)

A conveying device that conveys each syringe in an upright state with the flange down, at a predetermined interval;
A container defeating unit for defeating the syringe conveyed by the conveying device;
A collection chute that slides and discharges in a state where the flange collapsed by filling the groove with the syringe collapsed by the container collapse part,
A collection rail for collecting the syringe discharged from the collection chute by sliding it from its start to the end in a state where a flange is mounted on the upper part of the groove,
A foreign matter inspection apparatus comprising: A plurality of collection rails are provided,
The collection chute includes a collection change guide that can change which of the collection rails discharges the syringe.
The foreign matter inspection apparatus according to claim 1. The collection rails of a plurality of systems each have a sensor that detects whether or not there is an empty syringe collection,
The collection change guide is changed by the sensor so as to be discharged to one of the collection rails of a plurality of systems detected as having a syringe collection vacancy,
The foreign matter inspection apparatus according to claim 2. When the container defeating unit defeats the syringe, the conveying device conveys each syringe so that the interval does not hit the next syringe.
The foreign matter inspection apparatus according to claim 1. The inclination in the groove portion of the recovery rail is a gentler inclination than the inclination in the groove portion of the recovery chute,
The foreign matter inspection apparatus according to claim 1. The collection rail includes a syringe release unit that releases the collected syringe at its end.
The foreign matter inspection apparatus according to claim 1. The recovery rail includes a support portion that supports the recovered syringe so that it does not fall from its starting end.
The foreign matter inspection apparatus according to claim 1. The recovery chute can be changed to a second recovery chute for recovering a luer lock type syringe,
The second collection chute is an upright luer lock type syringe with the flange down, and is slid and discharged in an upright state, and collected on a collection rail.
The foreign matter inspection apparatus according to claim 1. By the conveying device, each syringe in an upright state with the flange down is conveyed at a predetermined interval,
Defeat the syringe conveyed by the conveying device by the container defeating part,
In the state where the syringe collapsed by the container collapse part is fitted in the groove of the collection chute and the flange is mounted, it is slid and discharged.
The syringe discharged from the recovery chute is recovered by sliding from the start end to the end of the recovery rail in a state where a flange is hung on the upper portion of the groove of the recovery rail.
A syringe recovery method for a foreign matter inspection apparatus.

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