1. An automatic machine for counting articles, in particular tablets, capsules, pills, including:
a feeding tray containing articles in bulk open at bottom;
a rotating disc-shaped support for closing said feeding tray at bottom, with a plurality of through holes made in sad disc-shaped support for receiving at least one single article from the feeding tray in each through hole;
retaining means connected to said disc-shaped support for keeping the articles within the respective through holes;
a check station, situated downstream of the feeding tray and provided with first support means operating therein to keep the articles in the respective holes, and cooperating with first optical means for verifying the integrity and the presence of the articles in each hole of the disc-shaped support;
a rejection station situated downstream of the check station and provided with second support means for keeping the articles in the respective holes and for allowing the articles to leave the respective holes according to signals coming from the first optical means, concerning the integrity of the articles;
a discharge station situated downstream of the rejection station and provided with third support means for allowing the articles to be released into containers dwelling below, and for keeping the articles in the holes according to signals coming from the first optical means concerning the integrity andor presence of articles in the respective holes.
2. A machine according to claim 1, including a verify station situated downstream of the discharge station and equipped with second optical means for detecting the presence of the articles in the respective holes, in time relation with operation of the third support means, to allow acceptancerejection of said containers.
3. A machine according to claim 1, including guiding means operating in the discharge station to allow conveying andor accumulation of articles released by the third support means.
4. A machine according to claim 3, including closing means connected to said guiding means and defining at least one accumulation chamber for articles released by the third support means.
5. A machine according to claim 1, wherein said through holes are gathered in radial sections, with the holes in each section of said radial section placed side by side along concentric rings and aligned in radial direction.
6. A machine according to claim 5, wherein the number of through holes for each radial section is equal to the number of articles selected to fill at least one container.
7. A machine according to claim 1, wherein the first support means, operating in the check station, include a plate of transparent material, preferably antistatic, interposed between upper vision means and lower vision means defining said first optical means, for checking integrity and presence of articles in each through hole.
8. A machine according to claim 1, wherein the second support means, operating in the rejection station, include a plurality of first wings, each of which connected to a through hole and operated by first actuating means to openclose, respectively to releasekeep articles contained in the through holes, according to signals coming from the first optical means, operating in the check station.
9. A machine according to claim 8, wherein said first actuating means are operated pneumatically.
10. A machine according to claim 1, wherein said third support means, operating in the discharge station, include a support plate, connected to a plurality of through holes and operated by second actuating means to openclose, respectively to releasekeep articles contained in the through holes according to signals coming from the first optical means, operating in the check station.
11. A machine, according to claim 10, wherein said second actuating means are operated pneumatically.
12. A machine, according to claim 1, wherein third support means, operating in the discharge station, include a plurality of second wings connected to said through holes and operated by second actuating means to openclose, respectively to releasekeep articles contained in the through holes, according to signals coming from the first optical means, operating in the check station.
13. A machine according to claim 1, wherein said check means connected to the disc-shaped support, include a motionless disc-shaped plate geometrically similar to said disc-shaped support.
14. A machine according to claim 1, wherein the rotating disc-shaped support has axis inclined.
15. A machine according to claim 1, including:
a verify station situated downstream of the discharge station and equipped with second optical means for detecting the presence of the articles in the respective holes, in time relation with operation of the third support means, to allow acceptancerejection of said containers;
guiding means operating in the discharge station to allow conveying andor accumulation of articles released by the third support means;
closing means connected to said guiding means and defining at least one accumulation chamber for articles released by the third support means;
and wherein:
the first support means, operating in the check station, include a plate of transparent material, preferably antistatic, interposed between upper vision means and lower vision means defining said first optical means, for checking integrity and presence of articles in each through hole;
the second support means, operating in the rejection station, include a plurality of first wings, each of which connected to a through hole and operated by first actuating means to openclose, respectively to releasekeep articles contained in the through holes, according to signals coming from the first optical means, operating in the check station,
said third support means, operating in the discharge station, include a support plate, connected to a plurality of through holes and operated by second actuating means to openclose, respectively to releasekeep articles contained in the through holes according to signals coming from the first optical means, operating in the check station;
third support means, operating in the discharge station, include a plurality of second wings connected to said through holes and operated by second actuating means to openclose, respectively to releasekeep articles contained in the through holes, according to signals coming from the first optical means, operating in the check station;
said check means connected to the disc-shaped support, include a motionless disc-shaped plate geometrically similar to said disc-shaped support.
16. A machine according to claim 15, wherein the rotating disc-shaped support has axis inclined.
17. A machine according to claim 15, wherein said through holes are gathered in radial sections, with the holes in each section of said radial section placed side by side along concentric rings and aligned in radial direction.
18. A machine according to claim 17, wherein the number of through holes for each radial section is equal to the number of articles selected to fill at least one container.
19. A machine according to claim 15, wherein said first actuating means are operated pneumatically.
20. A machine, according to claim 15, wherein said second actuating means are operated pneumatically.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A pulse width modulation power converter, comprising:
an output stage generating an output voltage according to a pulse width modulation signal and an input voltage by a switching element,
means for providing an output voltage reference,
an analog digital converter connected to the output stage and the means for providing an output voltage reference, sampling and amplifying a difference between the output voltage and the output voltage reference to generate an error signal,
a PID controller connected to the analog digital converter and the switching element wherein the PID controller is configured by a set of PID coefficients, for determining a duty ratio for a pulse width modulator that generates the pulse width modulation signal,
means for detecting a steady state and a load transient,
wherein the pulse width modulation converter further comprises storage means for storing a first set of PID coefficients and a second set of PID coefficients,
means for selecting a set of PID coefficients,
the first set of PID coefficients being selected in case the steady state is detected, and the second set of PID coefficients being selected in case a load transient is detected, wherein the means for detecting a steady state and a load transient comprise means for monitoring the error signal and comparing each value of the error to its predecessor by generating an error signal difference.
2. The pulse width modulation power converter according to claim 1, wherein the means for comparing each value of the error to its predecessor by generating an error signal difference comprise means for taking into account a second derivative of the error signal.
3. The pulse width modulation power converter according to claim 2, wherein a duty ratio difference of the duty ratio and its predecessor is computed and in case during an off-time of the pulse width modulation signal the duty ratio difference exceeds a threshold, the pulse width modulator is triggered to start a new pulse width modulation period.
4. The pulse width modulation power converter according to claim 1, further comprising means for storing a plurality of nonlinear gain coefficients KP of the second set of PID coefficients and adaptively selecting a nonlinear gain Kp in case of load transient detection.
5. The pulse width modulation power converter according to claim 1, further comprising means for providing the analog digital converter with a first clock frequency and the pulse width modulator with a second clock frequency, wherein the first clock frequency is higher than the second clock frequency.
6. The pulse width modulation power converter according to claim 1, further comprising means for computing a moving average of the error signal.
7. A control method for a power converter wherein
an output voltage is generated according to a pulse width modulation signal and an input voltage;
an error signal is generated by sampling the output voltage and differencing the sampled output voltage and an output voltage reference;
a duty ratio that defines a duty cycle of a pulse width modulation signal is determined by a PID controlling algorithm;
the pulse width modulation signal is generated by providing the duty ratio to a pulse width modulator;
a steady state or a load transient is detected, and
a first set of PID coefficients is selected in case a steady state is detected and a second set of PID coefficients is selected in case a load transient is detected, and wherein the step of detecting a steady state or a load transient comprises monitoring the error signal and comparing each value of the error signal to its predecessor by computing an error signal difference.
8. The control method according to claim 7, wherein the step of comparing each value of the error signal to its predecessor by computing an error signal difference comprises taking into account a second derivative of the error signal.
9. The control method according to claim 8, wherein a duty ratio difference of the duty ratio and its predecessor is computed and in case during an off-time of the pulse width modulation signal the duty ratio difference exceeds a threshold, the pulse width modulator is triggered to start a new pulse width modulation period.
10. The control method according to claim 7, wherein a nonlinear gain KP is selected in case of load transient detection.
11. The control method according to claim 7, wherein the output voltage andor the error signal is oversampled by sampling a plurality of error signals within one PWM period.
12. The control method according to claim 7, wherein a moving average of the sampled error signal is computed.