Automated inspection of capsule seals

摘要

In a capsule-sealing machine comprising a slat conveyor for carrying capsules over liquid binder application wheels and a bucket conveyor for receiving the sealed capsules and carrying them through the air drying chamber, a set of photoelectric inspection heads is positioned adjacent to the slat conveyor, and solenoid valves and air nozzles are positioned adjacent to the bucket conveyor. Signals produced by the inspection heads are delayed, and used to operate the solenoid valves to eject defectively sealed capsules from the bucket conveyor. The inspection heads are carried on a bar supported by brackets having inverted L-shaped slots which allow the bar to be moved upwardly and out of the way so that the slat conveyor can be cleaned or repaired. When the bar is in the inspection position adjacent to the slats, a slot in a lower edge of the bar fits over an adjusting wheel which permits fine adjustment of the positions of the inspection heads relative to the slats. An LED indicator electronically coupled to the inspection heads allows fine adjustment of the position of the inspection head carrier bar during operation of the sealing machine.