Patent ID: 8015777

Claim:
A method for filling capsule body with tablet, by which a predetermined number of flat tablets aligned and stacked along the vertical direction while being each kept under a flat state are dropped into a capsule body arranged below so as to fill said capsule body with said predetermined number of flat tablets, wherein said predetermined number of flat tablets under a flat state are contained in a containing hole with their axes set along the vertical direction, in the state of being stacked coaxially, and a circumferential edge part of said flat tablet at a lowermost position is supported by tablet holding means disposed at a lower end part of said containing hole, whereby said flat tablets are contained in said containing hole in said flat stacked state, then, in this condition, said capsule body is arranged just under said containing hole and the supporting of said lowermost-position tablet by said tablet holding means is released, whereby a flat tablet group including said plurality of flat tablets stacked under the flat state is dropped from said containing hole into said capsule body, wherein said tablet holding means comprises a through-window formed in a part of a circumferential surface of a lower end part of said containing hole, and a tablet holding member having a pinching part and inserted in said through-window so as to face to the inside of said containing hole, and said circumferential edge part of said lowermost-position tablet in said flat tablet group is pressed in a horizontal direction by said pinching part of said tablet holding member so as to pinch said tablet circumferential edge part between said pinching part and an inner circumferential surface of said containing hole, thereby holding said flat tablet group in said containing hole, and wherein a slide drive source for horizontally sliding the tablet holding member is provided, and the tablet holding member is horizontally slid by the slide drive source so that a circumferential edge part of the lowermost-position tablet in said flat tablet group in the containing hole is pressed in a horizontal direction by the pinching part of said tablet holding member so as to pinch said tablet circumferential edge part between said pinching part and an inner circumferential surface of the containing hole, whereby each flat tablet group is dropped downward from a lower end surface of each containing hole into each capsule body arranged just under each containing hole, and the pinching of said lowermost-position tablet in said flat tablet group is released by horizontally sliding said tablet holding member in a reverse direction by said slide drive source.