EP1557381A1 - Apparatus for packaging products such as pharmaceutical tablets in blisters comprising means for conveying the products to the blisters - Google Patents

Abstract

Blister pack filler comprises a receiver (2) for the products to be packed, a feeder and a transfer section with guides. The transfer section has a drive with at least one mobile member (1) in the form of a rotary disc to move the products along one or more grooves (11) in a support (4), to which they are delivered in the correct orientation by a feeder (5) with pushers on a rotary wheel. At the lower end of the rotary disc the products can be extracted by claws that fit into the grooves.

Description

The invention relates to the field of packaging. More precisely, The invention relates to a device, commonly known as a blister, designed to ensure blister packaging of products, such as pharmaceutical tablets, capsules or soft capsules.

• les blisteriseuses pour blisters en matériau plastique thermoformé ;
• les blisteriseuses pour blisters en matériau embouti, par exemple en aluminium.

In the field of the invention, there are two types of blistering machines:

• blister packs for blisters made of thermoformed plastic material;
• blister packs for blisters made of pressed material, for example made of aluminum.

In common with both types of blistering machines, the devices implemented include a product reception area (tablets), means ensuring the scrolling of blisters and transfer means for send the products from the reception area to the blisters to deposit products in blister cells.

Blistering machines for blisters made of stamped material, transfer means comprise a wheel having at its periphery cells corresponding to those of the blisters.

According to this technique, the tablets are deposited in the cells of the wheel, from the reception area, then are driven vertically blisters in the cells from which they take place under the effect of gravity.

This technique is particularly suitable for material blisters stamped to the extent that it is avoided to put the tablets in support on the the surface of the blister, which could distort it or cause scratching on its surface.

On the other hand, such devices are very expensive and relatively limited in time because of the need to synchronize perfectly the rotation of the dimple wheel and scrolling blisters.

Blister packers for plastic blisters thermoformed, the transfer means are constituted by troughs extending parallel to each other (in number corresponding to the number of cells over a width of blister) and formed in a room called fluent lyre.

Under the effect of a vibrating bowl for example, the tablets take place in the lyre and slide under the effect of gravity up to the band of blisters that scrolls under the lyre.

In operation, the tablets at the base of the troughs of the lyre slide on the blister strip until a series of blisters presents itself (Of course, the operating cycles are continuous or indexed and at relatively high rates). The tablets take then place in the corresponding cells under the effect of gravity.

This technique has several disadvantages.

In the first place, such devices ensure correct operation at capped rates between 200 and 500 blisters per minute.

This is due to the principle of descent of tablets in lyres under the only effect of gravity (and possibly with the help of compressed air, by example by blowing): the descent of the tablets into the cells does not is not done quickly enough to consider, with a result satisfactory, higher rates.

In addition, it is quite common for tablets to penetrate troughs of the lyre, get in the way of them and get stuck, which blocks the passage for other tablets.

This phenomenon often occurs because of broken tablets or dust particles.

In this case, it is then necessary to stop the operation of the device, for removing the obstructing tablet.

However, such stops of the device, when repeated, carry heavily productivity, which is obviously to be avoided.

The purpose of the invention is in particular to overcome the disadvantages of the prior art.

More specifically, the object of the invention is to propose a device for blister packaging of products that can work effectively at significantly higher rates compared to the solutions of art prior.

Another object of the invention is to provide such a device for conditioning that is not, or not, subject to jamming phenomena requiring stops of the device as mentioned above.

The invention also aims to provide such a device that can easily evolve according to the characteristics of the blisters (number and dimensions of the cells, spacing between cells ...).

Another object of the invention is to provide such a device which is simple in design and easy to implement.

These objectives, as well as others that will appear later, are achieved thanks to the invention which relates to a packaging device in blisters products, such as, in particular, pharmaceutical tablets, comprising means for receiving said products capable of delivering said products transfer means including means for guiding said products to said blisters brought to scroll in the vicinity of said transfer means, characterized in that said transfer means comprises means driving said products along said guide means, said products being in contact with each other step by step along said means guidance.

In this way, the means of transfer are active: they are no longer only guiding means, such as a lyre, in which the products that then move under the effect of their own weight. On the contrary, the transfer means act on the products to accelerate their movement and / or exert a force on them.

As will become clearer later, the means of training according to the invention exert an action on the products in contact from each other so as to generate a thrust that is transmitted to tablets directly in the vicinity of the blister.

Such a push results in a reduction in the time that the tablet puts to take place in an alveolus blister (compared to the time it puts under the sole effect of its weight).

We can therefore significantly increase the operating rates of the device. In practice, such a device can support, with a correct result, rates up to 600 to 700 blisters / minute, which turns out to be considerably higher than the rates that can be envisaged with the solutions of the prior art.

In addition, the risk of blockage due to jamming of a product in the guide means are deleted.

Indeed, assuming that a product (for example a compressed tablet) gets stuck in the guide means, it is driven as the other products by means of transfer.

In other words, the transfer of products to the blisters is produced independently of the presence of the stuck product.

Of course, this stuck product will have to be detected and / or removed from device but that does not necessarily cause the device to shut down as this is the case with the solutions of the prior art.

According to a preferred solution, said guide means comprise at least one less a movable element forming training means.

Thus, the training of the products is ensured by a mobile part of guiding means. We thus obtain a regrouping and a simplification of means used.

Preferably, said at least one mobile element has at least a housing groove for said products and are likely to be moved along holding means of said tablets in said or said grooves.

We therefore use the guiding principle of the products by chute, at the essential difference from the prior art that the guide means are partly animated to ensure the training of the products.

According to an advantageous solution, said grooves have dimensions adapted to those of said products to allow the training of said products on the one hand, and a waiting position of said products in said groove or grooves on the other hand, said movable element moving with a speed different from that of said product or products in said waiting position.

In this way, the means of transfer drive the products from the receiving area until the grooves are filled with products.

Once the filling is completed, the moving part continues its displacement by exerting a slight friction on the products, which tends to drive a boost of products against blisters.

It is understood that, in such an operating phase, the speed of displacement of products is significantly lower than that of the moving element, as will be explained in more detail later.

According to a preferred solution, said one or more moving elements comprise at least one disc intended to be rotated.

Such an arrangement is simple in design and easy to implement and allows continuous operation, including at high speeds.

Other embodiments of the mobile part are however conceivable without departing from the scope of the invention, for example by providing for the grooves in a flexible endless belt having a transfer zone straight.

Advantageously, the device comprises orientation means to guide those products in such a way as to encourage their introduction into said guide means.

This facilitates the introduction of the products into the guide means, this which therefore contributes to obtaining high rates.

In this case, according to a first variant embodiment, said means orientation include at least one chute.

This chute has a significantly reduced length compared to those in the form of a lyre, as mentioned above, which limits the risk of malfunction.

According to a second variant, said orientation means comprise means for pushing said products towards said guide means.

This eliminates the risk of blockage due to jamming of products in the chutes of the lyre according to the previous variant.

In this case, said thrust means preferably comprise at least one flexible pallet.

It is thus possible to act effectively on products by limiting the risks of degradation of products.

According to yet another conceivable variant (which can be combined with one of the two preceding variants), said orientation means comprise at least one groove integrated in said receiving means.

Such an arrangement also contributes to limiting the risks of malfunction (due to an incorrect introduction of a product, by example of a broken product) and to allow obtaining high rates.

Preferably, said receiving means comprise at least one vibrating bowl.

According to another advantageous characteristic, the device comprises at minus a claw extracting said tablets from said means of guide.

We make sure of this way of extracting products from means of transfer, which helps to limit the risk of unfilled blisters of product.

In this case, said guide means have a recess in which at least partially penetrate said claw or claws.

The cooperation of the guide means and the claw is thus ensured of optimized way, without the need for a very precise adjustment of the the claw relative to the groove (which should be the case if the claw was flush with the guide means).

Preferably, said claw or claws extend by a surface slip on which said products move in the direction of said blisters.

Product guidance is thus obtained simply up to the blisters, this by the implementation of a reduced number of parts.

Advantageously, said holding means extend so as to cooperate with said sliding surface to provide guidance of said products up to said blisters.

Such an arrangement also contributes to the simplicity of the device, this because of the reduced number of parts contributing to the guiding of the products.

Preferably, said holding means are made in one transparent material.

Of course, the holding means can be made in one opaque material according to another conceivable embodiment.

However, the transparency of the material allows easy visual inspection of the transfer of products between the receiving area and the blisters.

According to another advantageous characteristic, the device comprises motorization means mounted on a fixed element of the device to actuate said drive means, the device comprising a subassembly including said drive means removably mounted on said fixed element.

In this way, the means of training (and guidance) can easily be replaced for either a maintenance operation or a adaptation to a change of blisters and / or products.

The invention also relates to a subassembly intended to equip a packaging device in blisters of products, such as in particular pharmaceutical tablets, comprising means for receiving said products capable of delivering the said products to transfer means including means for guiding said products to said blisters brought to scrolling in the vicinity of said transfer means, characterized in that it includes said guide means and said transfer means, the latter comprising means for driving said products along said means of guiding, said products being in contact with one another step by step along said guide means.

• les figures 1 et 2 sont des vues respectivement de côté et de face des moyens de guidage et d'entraínement d'un dispositif selon une première variante de réalisation de l'invention ;
• la figure 3 est une vue de détail de la figure 1, illustrant une griffe d'extraction ;
• la figure 4 est une vue de détail de la figure 2 illustrant le profil des moyens de guidage ;
• la figure 5 est une vue de côté d'un dispositif selon une deuxième variante de réalisation de l'invention ;
• la figure 6 est une vue d'une installation intégrant un dispositif selon l'invention, le sous-ensemble incluant les moyens de guidage et d'entraínement des produits étant à l'état monté ;
• la figure 7 est une vue d'une installation intégrant un dispositif selon l'invention, le sous-ensemble incluant les moyens de guidage et d'entraínement des produits étant à l'état démonté ;
• les figures 8 et 9 sont des vues respectivement de dessus et de côté de moyens d'orientation des produits en amont de leur introduction dans les moyens de guidage et d'entraínement.

Other features and advantages of the invention will appear more clearly on reading the following description of a preferred embodiment of the invention and of several of its variants, given by way of illustrative and non-limiting examples, and appended drawings, among which:

• Figures 1 and 2 are views respectively of side and front means for guiding and driving a device according to a first embodiment of the invention;
• Figure 3 is a detail view of Figure 1, illustrating an extraction claw;
• Figure 4 is a detail view of Figure 2 illustrating the profile of the guide means;
• Figure 5 is a side view of a device according to a second embodiment of the invention;
• Figure 6 is a view of an installation incorporating a device according to the invention, the subset including the guiding and driving means of the products being in the assembled state;
• Figure 7 is a view of an installation incorporating a device according to the invention, the subset including the guiding and driving means of the products being in the disassembled state;
• Figures 8 and 9 are respectively top and side views of product orientation means upstream of their introduction into the guide means and drive.

As already indicated above, the principle of the invention lies in the fact that the products are brought into contact one after the other, the along a guide means, between a reception zone and the blisters using means of training.

According to the preferred embodiment of the invention illustrated in all the figures, these drive means are constituted by a disk 1 (or a set of several disks) having means for guiding tablets to blisters.

This aspect is clearly shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 which show a disc 1 intended to be rotated to ensure the transfer of tablets from a reception zone 2 to blisters 3 obtained by thermoforming a tape of a plastic material.

Such a disk 1 has at its periphery grooves 11 (whose number varies of course depending on blisters) forming guide means of tablets in cooperation with a fixed element 4 which substantially marries the shape of the disc 1 so as to maintain the tablets in the grooves 11.

The operation of a device according to the invention is as follows: tablets present in the reception zone 2 take place in the grooves 11 of disk 1 and are driven by it to the blister packs that are disc 1. As an indication, the disc 1 is driven to present a linear velocity 10 to 20% higher than the linear velocity of the web thermoformed.

When the device is started, the disk "fills" with tablets in the one to one, this being due to the fact that the scrolling of the blisters is less faster than the transfer of the tablets. The tablets agglutinate one behind the others, the tablet or tablets ready to take place in the cells blisters being in contact with the thermoformed strip, resting on it.

This support is intensified by the action of the rotating disk, the walls of the grooves sliding on the products and exerting on them a slight friction.

We understand that this operation is allowed by a sizing appropriate grooves with respect to the tablets.

As the tablets are transferred, when a cell becomes present under a tablet, it takes place there.

Under the combined action of gravity and rotating disk, tablets are moved down until one (or more) tablet is again brought in support on the thermoformed blister strip.

Of course, these steps follow one another continuously and at a rate highs corresponding to the production of 600 to 700 blisters per minute.

To promote the introduction of tablets into the grooves of the disks 1, it is further provided means of orientation of the tablets.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, these orientation means consist of by a wheel 5 carrying flexible pallets 51.

According to this technique, the tablets arrive in bulk at the level of the receiving zone 2 and are pushed by the flexible vanes 51 of the wheel which rotates in the direction indicated by the arrow F1 to introduce the tablets into the grooves of the disc 1 which rotates in the direction indicated by the arrow F.

According to an embodiment variant illustrated in FIG. 5, the means of orientation are constituted by a lyre 6. Thus, the tablets are transferred from the reception zone 2 to the guide means of the disc 1 by sliding under the effect of their own weight in the chutes of the lyre 6.

With reference to FIGS. 8 and 9, the receiving zone 2 comprises a bowl vibrator 21.

According to one particular embodiment, this vibrator bowl 21 has grooves 7 for receiving the tablets so as to orient them in correspondence with the guide means of the disk 1.

According to another characteristic of the invention, the device comprises a claw for extracting the tablets from the guiding means of the disk 1.

Such a claw 8 comprises points 81 which penetrate grooves 12 arranged at the bottom of the guide grooves 11.

Thus, when the disc 1 rotates, it brings the tablets to the level of the claw 8, the tips 81 of it passing under the tablets that are guided then on the sliding surface 82 of the claw, which causes the extraction tablets from the grooves 11.

The tablets are then guided between the sliding surface 82 and the fixed element 4, to the blisters.

Note that the fixed element 4 forms a single piece ensuring the maintenance tablets in the grooves of disc 1 and then on the sliding surface claws 8.

In addition, this element 4 is preferably made of a material transparent plastic.

FIGS. 6 and 7 illustrate an installation integrating a device according to the invention as that which has just been described.

With reference to these figures, the installation comprises a first zone of conveying (forming reception area 2) formed in this case by a strip cleats 22 driven by a first motor unit 23.

At the end of the cleat strip 22, the tablets fall on a disk 1 (this is more like here a roller considering the width of the thermoformed strip which scrolls) then are oriented with the aid of a wheel pallets to be introduced into the grooves of disk 1 and then transferred to the blisters.

According to the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 7, the disk 1 and the pallet wheel 5 are included in a subassembly removably mounted on the frame of the installation.

Figure 7 illustrates the installation when this subassembly is disassembled.

As it appears, the installation has a fixed element 9 carrying motorization means 91 coupled to transmission means 92.

The subassembly including disc 1 is equipped with means of locking / unlocking 93 intended to cooperate with the fixed element 9.

Furthermore, this subassembly comprises an opening means 94 allowing access to the vane wheel and optionally replace it.

Claims (19)

Device for packaging in blisters of products, such as, in particular, pharmaceutical tablets, comprising means for receiving (2) said products capable of delivering said products to transfer means including means for guiding said products to said blisters brought to pass in the vicinity said transfer means,
characterized in that said transfer means comprise means for driving said products along said guide means, said products being in contact with each other step by step along said guide means. Packaging device in blister packs according to claim 1, characterized in that said guide means comprise at least one movable element (1) forming drive means. Packaging device in blisters of products according to claims 1 and 2, characterized in that said one or more mobile elements have at least one groove (11) forming a housing for said products and can be moved along holding means ( 4) said tablets in said groove (s) (11). Device for packaging product blisters according to claims 2 and 3, characterized in that said grooves (11) have dimensions adapted to those of said products to allow the drive of said products on the one hand, and a position of waiting said products in said groove or grooves on the other hand, said movable member moving with a speed different from that of said one or more products in said standby position. Packaging device in blister packs according to one of claims 2 and 4, characterized in that said one or more mobile elements (1) comprise at least one disc intended to be rotated. Packaging device in blisters of products according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that it comprises orientation means (5), (6), (7) for guiding said products so as to promote their introduction into said guide means. Packaging device in blister packs according to claim 6, characterized in that said orientation means (6) comprise at least one chute. Packaging device in blister packs according to claim 6, characterized in that said orientation means (5) comprise means for pushing said products towards said guide means. Packaging device in blister packs according to claim 8, characterized in that said pushing means are carried by a wheel intended to be rotated. Packaging device in blister packs according to one of claims 8 and 9, characterized in that said thrust means comprise at least one flexible pallet (51). Packaging device in blister packs according to one of claims 6 to 10, characterized in that said orientation means (7) comprise at least one groove integrated with said receiving means (2). Packaging device in blisters of products according to any one of claims 1 to 11, characterized in that said receiving means (2) comprise at least one vibratory bowl (21). Packaging device in blister packs according to any one of claims 1 to 12, characterized in that it comprises at least one extraction claw (8) of said tablets from said guide means. Packaging device in blister packs according to claim 13, characterized in that said guide means have a recess (12) in which at least partially penetrate said claw (s) (8). Packaging device in blister packs according to one of claims 13 and 14, characterized in that said claw (s) (8) are extended by a sliding surface (82) on which said products move in the direction of said blisters. Packaging device in blister packs according to claims 3 and 15, characterized in that said holding means (4) extend so as to cooperate with said sliding surface (82) for guiding said products to said blisters . Packaging device in blisters of products according to any one of claims 3 to 16, characterized in that said holding means (4) are made of a transparent material. Packaging device in blisters of products according to any one of claims 1 to 17, characterized in that it comprises drive means (91) mounted on a fixed element (9) of the device capable of actuating said means of drive, and in that it comprises a subassembly including said drive means removably mounted on said fixed member (9). Subassembly intended to equip a packaging device in product blister packs, such as, in particular, pharmaceutical tablets, comprising means for receiving said products capable of delivering said products to transfer means including means for guiding said products to said delivered blisters scrolling in the vicinity of said transfer means,
characterized in that it includes said guide means and said transfer means, the latter comprising means for driving said products along said guide means, said products being in contact with each other step by step along said means for guide.

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