US 11,685,170 C1 (12,857th)
Device and method for printing and inspecting tablet
Kyung Ho Lee, Goyang-si (KR); and Byung In Kim, Seoul (KR)
Filed by ENCLONY INC, Seoul (KR)
Assigned to ENCLONY INC, Seoul (KR)
Reexamination Request No. 90/019,569, Jul. 3, 2024.
Reexamination Certificate for Patent 11,685,170, issued Jun. 27, 2023, Appl. No. 17/087,864, Nov. 3, 2020.
Claims priority of application No. 10-2020-0071223 (KR), filed on Jun. 12, 2020.
Ex Parte Reexamination Certificate issued on Mar. 3, 2025.
Int. Cl. B41J 3/407 (2006.01); B41J 2/44 (2006.01); B41J 3/28 (2006.01); B41J 3/54 (2006.01); B41J 3/60 (2006.01); B41J 29/393 (2006.01)
CPC B41J 3/4073 (2013.01) [B41J 2/442 (2013.01); B41J 3/28 (2013.01); B41J 3/546 (2013.01); B41J 3/60 (2013.01); B41J 29/393 (2013.01)]
OG exemplary drawing
AS A RESULT OF REEXAMINATION, IT HAS BEEN DETERMINED THAT:
Claims 1 and 15 are determined to be patentable as amended.
Claims 2-14 and 16-23, dependent on an amended claim, are determined to be patentable.
1. A device for printing a tablet and inspecting an exterior of the tablet, comprising:
[ a tablet supplier arranging tablets in a row using centrifugal force;]
a transfer unit arranging and transferring tablets supplied [ directly ] from a [ the ] tablet supplier in a line [ , and absorbing onto a rotation tray with a groove formed in a circumferential shape that is connected to a negative pressure space] ;
a pre-printing image-capturing unit located on a transfer path on which the tablets are transferred to discriminate positions and orientations of the tablets, and disposed to capture images of exteriors of the tablets being transferred;
a tablet printing unit located next to the pre-printing image-capturing unit on the transfer path on which the tablets are transferred, and printing the tablets being transferred, in consideration of discriminated results acquired from the images captured by the pre-printing image-capturing unit; and
a post-printing image-capturing unit located next to the tablet printing unit on the transfer path on which the tablets are transferred, and capturing images of exteriors of the printed tablets being transferred, to inspect the images or printed results of the printed tablets;
wherein the pre-printing image-capturing unit acquires images of exteriors of the tablets being transferred, to recognize positions of the tablets, and transfers tablet information including information on orientations, shift changes, and rotations of the tablets obtained from the acquiring the images, to a controller, and
the controller calculates a correction value including a position change value and a rotation value of the tablet printing unit in real time, based on the tablet information, and controls a laser irradiation position or a laser irradiation amount of the tablet printing unit, based on the correction value, and
the post-printing image-capturing unit performs capturing images of at least one of a lateral surface and lateral edge of the tablet being transferred and an upper or lower surface of the tablet,
wherein the tablet printing unit is configured to use a UV laser, and
wherein the controller compares whether a character boundary line of a printed portion on the one surfaces of the tablets, captured by the post-printing image-capturing unit, and a character boundary line to be intended for printing are the same, and inspects whether a position of the character boundary line of the printed portion on the one surfaces of the tablets is in a central portion of each of the tablets, to discriminate whether the printed surface of each of the tablets is good.
15. A method for printing a tablet and inspecting an exterior of the tablet, comprising:
[ an arranging operation of arranging tablets in a row using centrifugal force by a tablet supplier;]
a transfer operation of disposing and transferring tablets supplied [ directly ] from a [ the ] tablet supplier by a transfer unit [ absorbing onto a rotation tray with a groove formed in a circumferential shape that is connected to a negative pressure space] ;
a pre-printing image-capturing operation of capturing images of exteriors of the tablets being transferred by a pre-printing image-capturing unit, to discriminate positions and orientations of the tablets;
a printing operation of printing the tablets being transferred by a tablet printing unit, in consideration of discriminated results acquired from the images captured by the pre-printing image-capturing unit; and
an inspection operation of capturing images of exteriors of the printed tablets being transferred by a post-printing image-capturing unit, to inspect the images or printed results of the printed tablets;
wherein the pre-printing image-capturing operation further comprises acquiring images of exteriors of the tablets being transferred, to recognize positions of the tablets, and transfers tablet information including at least one of information on orientations, shift changes, and rotations of the tablets obtained from the acquiring the images, to a controller,
calculating a correction value including a position change value and a rotation value of the tablet printing unit in real time, depending on tablet information obtained from the acquiring the images by the controller, to control a laser irradiation position or a laser irradiation amount of the tablet printing unit, based on the correction value, and
wherein the inspection operation of capturing images comprises capturing images of at least one of a lateral surface and lateral edge of the tablet being transferred and an upper or lower surface of the tablet,
wherein the tablet printing unit is configured to see [ use ] a UV laser, and
wherein the controller compares whether a character boundary line of a printed portion on the one surfaces of the tablets, captured by the post-printing image-capturing unit, and a character boundary line to be intended for printing are the same, and inspects whether a position of the character boundary line of the printed portion on the one surfaces of the tablets is in a central portion of each of the tablets, to discriminate whether the printed surface of each of the tablets is good.