ITBO20110181A1 - MACHINE FOR FILLING BOTTLES WITH SOLID FORMS OF PHARMACEUTICALS, IN PARTICULAR CAPSULES, PILLS, PADS, AND / OR TABLETS - Google Patents

Description

DESCRIPTION

of the patent for industrial invention entitled:

â € œMACHINE FOR FILLING BOTTLES WITH SOLID FORMS OF PHARMACEUTICAL PRODUCTS, IN PARTICULAR CAPSULES, PILLS, TABLETS, AND / OR TABLETSâ €

The present invention relates to a machine for filling bottles with solid forms of pharmaceutical products, in particular capsules, pills, tablets, and / or tablets.

In the pharmaceutical sector, it is known to provide a filling machine of the type comprising a conveyor device for advancing in succession a plurality of bottles along a determined path and through a filling station; and a metering device mounted in the filling station to feed a determined number of solid forms inside each bottle.

The metering device is mounted above a straight section of the path of the bottles, and has a plurality of feeding channels, which extend in respective vertical containment planes parallel and aligned with each other, and each comprise a respective portion of substantially horizontal vibrating inlet and a respective substantially vertical outlet portion adapted to discharge the solid forms received from the vibrating inlet portion inside the relative bottle.

The machine also comprises a counting device comprising, in turn, for each feed channel, a respective sensor suitable for detecting the passage of each solid form along the relative output portion, and an electronic control unit connected to the sensors for calculating the total number of solid shapes advanced along the outlet portion of each feed channel and stopping the corresponding vibrating inlet portion upon reaching a determined threshold value.

Known filling machines of the type described above are relatively complex and expensive in that they involve intermittent operation of the vibrating inlet portions, which must be alternately activated to allow the solid forms to fall into the relative outlet portions and deactivated in response to a signal from the counting device so as to stop the fall of the solid forms in the relative outlet portions and to ensure correct filling of the bottles arranged each time in the filling station.

The purpose of the present invention is to provide a machine for filling bottles with solid forms of pharmaceutical products, in particular capsules, pills, tablets, and / or tablets, which is free from the drawbacks described above and which is simple and economical to implement. .

According to the present invention, a machine is provided for filling bottles with solid forms of pharmaceutical products, in particular capsules, pills, tablets, and / or tablets, as claimed in the attached claims.

The present invention will now be described with reference to the attached drawings, which illustrate a non-limiting example of embodiment, in which:

Figure 1 is a schematic plan view, with parts removed for clarity, of a preferred embodiment of the filling machine of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a schematic side view, with parts removed for clarity, of a detail of the filling machine of Figure 1;

Figures 3 and 4 are two schematic side views, with parts in section and parts removed for clarity, of a first detail of Figure 2 shown in two different operating positions;

figure 5 is a schematic plan view of a first detail of figures 3 and 4;

figure 6 is a schematic plan view, with parts removed for clarity, of a second detail of figures 3 and 4;

figure 7 is a schematic side view, with parts in section and parts removed for clarity, of a second detail of figure 2;

figure 8 is a schematic plan view, with parts removed for clarity, of a first detail of figure 7;

figure 9 is a schematic plan view, with parts removed for clarity, of a second detail of figure 7;

Figure 10 is a schematic side view, with parts removed for clarity, of a third detail of Figure 7;

figure 11 is a schematic plan view, with parts removed, of the detail of figure 10; And

figure 12 is similar to figures 3 and 4 and illustrates a variant of the detail of figures 3 and 4.

With reference to Figure 1, 1 indicates, as a whole, a machine for filling bottles 2 with solid forms 3 (Figure 3) of pharmaceutical products such as, for example, capsules, pills, tablets and / or tablets.

The machine 1 comprises a wheel 4 for dosing the solid forms 3 inside the bottles 2; a feeding device 5, which feeds the empty bottles 2 to the wheel 4, and is connected to the wheel 4 at a transfer station 6; and a pick-up device 7, which picks up the full bottles 2 from the wheel 4, and is connected to the wheel 4 itself at a transfer station 8.

As illustrated in Figures 2 and 3, the wheel 4 comprises a lower disk 9, which is rotatably coupled to a fixed support frame 10 to rotate continuously, with respect to the frame 10 and under the thrust of a device 11 for actuation, around a substantially vertical longitudinal axis 12 (clockwise in Figure 1), and has a perimeter edge defining a substantially horizontal support plane A for the bottles 2.

The device 11 comprises an electric motor 13, which is housed inside the frame 10 below the disc 9, extends in a vertical direction 14 parallel to the axis 12, and is connected to a shaft 15 of transmission coupled to the disc 9 by means of a pair of gears 16, 17 fixed to the disc 9 and, respectively, to the shaft 15.

The wheel 4 also comprises a star-shaped drum 18, which is fixed to the disc 9 coaxially to the axis 12, and has a plurality of pockets 19, which are each suitable for receiving and retaining a respective bottle 2 , are obtained along a perimeter edge of the drum 18, are uniformly distributed around the axis 12, are limited below by the disc 9, and are closed radially towards the outside by two containment tiles 20a, 20b (figure 1), which extend around axis 12, and are fixed to frame 10 between stations 6 and 8.

The solid forms 3 are fed inside the bottles 2 by a distribution plate 21, which is mounted above the drum 18 coaxially to the axis 12, and is limited at the bottom by a bottom wall 22 of the form substantially truncated cone on which a plurality of feeding channels 23 equal in number to the number of pockets 19 are obtained.

With reference to Figure 5, each channel 23 is helically wound around and along the aforementioned axis 12, it has a lower inlet 24 of the solid forms 3 in the channel 23 and an upper outlet 25 of the solid forms 3 from the same channel 23 , and has such a width as to allow the solid shapes 3 to advance in succession along the channel 23 itself.

According to what is illustrated in figures 2 and 3, the plate 21 is fixed to a vibrating base 26 of a known type, which is in turn fixed on the disc 9 coaxially to the axis 12, and is able to impart to the plate 21 a vibratory motion according to a determined law so as to advance in succession the solid forms 3 along the channels 23.

The wheel 4 is also provided with a recirculation device 27 adapted to collect the solid forms 3 advanced through the outlets 25 of the channels 23 and to feed them again inside the plate 21.

The device 27 comprises an annular collection manifold 28, which is fixed to the drum 18 coaxially to the axis 12, is open at the top in the direction 14, and has a diameter greater than the diameter of the drum 18 and of the plate 21, and a suction pipe 29, which is fixed to the frame 10, has a substantially U-shape with a concavity facing downwards, and comprises an inlet 30 facing the manifold 28 and an outlet 31 facing the plate 21.

The wheel 4 also comprises, for each channel 23, a respective discharge duct 32, which allows to selectively discharge the solid forms 3 fed through the relative outlet 25 into the relative bottle 2 or into the manifold 28, and in turn comprises , an upper portion 33, which has a longitudinal axis 34 parallel to the direction 14, is obtained partly through the plate 21 and partly through the drum 18, and is vertically aligned to the relative outlet 25 and to the relative bottle 2 in the direction 14 itself.

The duct 32 also comprises an intermediate portion 35, which extends below the portion 33, and is hinged to the drum 18 to rotate, with respect to the drum 18 and under the thrust of an actuation device 36, around a axis 37 of horizontal fulcrum transversal to axis 12 between a first operating position (figure 3), in which the two portions 33 and 35 are substantially aligned and coaxial to each other to feed the solid forms 3 inside the bottle 2, and a second operating position (Figure 4), in which the portion 35 is inclined with respect to the portion 33 so as to be positioned above the manifold 28 and feed the solid forms 3 inside the manifold 28 itself.

The device 36 comprises an electric motor 38 fixed to the drum 18 parallel to the direction 14, and a horizontal tie rod 39, which extends transversely to the direction 14, is coupled in a sliding manner to the drum 18, is connected to an output shaft of the motor 38 through the interposition of a first crank 40, and is connected to the portion 35 through the interposition of a second crank 41.

Finally, the duct 32 comprises a lower portion 42, which is obtained through the drum 18 coaxially to the axis 34, and extends between the portion 35 and the bottle 2.

With reference to figures 3 and 6, each channel 23 is also associated with a stop device 43 suitable for preventing the solid forms 3 from falling into the relative bottle 2 regardless of the position of the relative portion 35 around the axis 37.

The device 43 comprises a flat gate 44, which extends perpendicularly to the direction 14, is mounted below the portion 35, and is fixed to the free upper end of the output shaft of an electric motor 45 fixed to the drum 18 parallel to direction 14. The gate 44 is moved by the motor 45 between a release position (shown in broken line in Figure 6), in which the gate 44 is arranged substantially outside the duct 32 to allow the fall of the solid shapes 3 in the bottle 2, and a stop position (shown in a continuous line in figure 6), in which the gate 44 is arranged inside the portion 42 to close the duct 32 at the bottom and prevent the solid shapes 3 from falling in bottle 2.

According to what is illustrated in Figures 1 and 3, the machine 1 is also provided with a counting device 46 comprising an electronic control unit 47 and, for each duct 32, a respective sensor, in this case a photocell 48 mounted along the portion 33 to detect the passage of each solid shape 3. The control unit 47 is connected to the photocells 48 to calculate the total number of solid shapes 3 fed through the outlet 25 of each channel 23.

The feeding device 5 comprises an auger 49, which is mounted to rotate continuously, with respect to the frame 10 and under the thrust of an actuation device 50 independent of the device 11, around its own substantially horizontal longitudinal axis 51 and transversal to the axis 12, and is adapted to receive the bottles 2 in succession and to arrange them according to a distribution pitch substantially equal to the distribution pitch of the pockets 19 around the axis 12 itself.

The empty bottles 2 are transferred from the screw 49 to a star wheel 52, which is connected to the wheel 4 at station 6, is connected to the screw 49 at a transfer station 53, and is also , connected to the motor 13 by means of a belt transmission 54 (Figure 2) to rotate continuously, with respect to the frame 10, around its own longitudinal axis 55 parallel to the axis 12 (counterclockwise in Figure 1).

The wheel 52 has a plurality of pockets 56 of substantially semicylindrical shape, which are uniformly distributed around the axis 55 with a distribution pitch equal to the distribution pitch of the pockets 19 around the axis 12, they are radially closed towards the Outside the tile 20b during their advancement from station 53 to station 6, and are limited at the bottom by a disk 57, which is substantially coplanar to plane A, and is mounted to rotate around axis 55.

The withdrawal device 7 defines, together with the wheel 4 and the device 5, a line for conveying the bottles 2 along a determined path P, and comprises an outlet belt conveyor 58 and a star wheel 59, which is suitable for to transfer the filled bottles 2 from wheel 4 to conveyor 58, it is connected to wheel 4 at station 8, and is also connected to conveyor 58 itself at a transfer station 60.

With reference to Figures 2 and 7, the wheel 59 comprises a tubular support shaft 61, which is mounted to rotate continuously, with respect to the frame 10 and under the thrust of the motor 13 and of the belt transmission 54, around its own longitudinal axis 62 parallel to the direction 14, and extends through the frame 10 so as to protrude above the outside of the frame 10 itself.

The shaft 61 supports a lower disk 63 fixed to the shaft 61 coaxially to the axis 62, an upper disk 64 fixed to the shaft 61 coaxially to the axis 62 and arranged in contact with the disk 63, and a plate 65 annular fixed below the disk 63 itself to define a support plane for the bottles 2 substantially coplanar with the plane A.

According to what is illustrated in Figures 7 and 8, the disc 64 has a plurality of seats 66, which are formed along a perimeter edge of the disc 64, are designed to receive and hold, each, a respective bottle 2, and are uniformly distributed around at axis 62 with a distribution pitch substantially equal to the distribution pitch of the pockets 19 around axis 12. The seats 66 are limited at the bottom by the plate 65, and are radially closed towards the outside by the tile 20b during the their progress from station 8 to station 60.

Each seat 66 is able to take a bottle 2 from a relative pocket 19 by means of a suction cup 67, which extends inside the seat 66, and is able to be connected, at station 8, with a circuit 68 pneumatic suction.

The circuit 68 comprises a distribution disk 69, which is mounted above the disk 64 coaxially to the axis 62, has a lower face substantially fluid-tight coupled with an upper face of the disk 64, and is fixed to an upper end of an intake duct 70, which extends inside the shaft 61, is fixed to the frame 10 at one of its lower extremities projecting outside the shaft 61, and is adapted to be selectively connected to a known pneumatic suction device and not illustrated by means of a solenoid valve 71 connected to the control unit 47.

The circuit 68 also comprises a duct 72, which is obtained through the disc 69, is connected to the duct 70, and has an intake mouth 73, which is obtained in the disc 69 at station 8, it extends around axis 62 at a given angle, and opens outwards at the lower face of disk 69.

During the crossing of the station 8, each suction cup 67 is pneumatically connected with the mouth 73 through a relative duct 74, which is obtained through the disk 64, opens towards the outside at the upper face of the disk 64 , and is advanced by the wheel 59 below the mouth 73 itself.

With reference to Figures 7 and 9, the disc 63 has a plurality of thrust members 75, which are equal in number to the number of seats 66, are uniformly distributed around the axis 62, and are each associated with a relative seat 66 to disengage the bottle 2 from the seat 66 itself.

Each member 75 includes an elongated rod 76, which extends radially outward through the disc 63, supports a fork 77 attached to a free end of the rod 76, and is slidably coupled to the disc 63 to move transversely to the axis 62 with respect to the disk 63 itself.

The rod 76 is moved to an extracted position (shown in broken line in figure 9), in which the fork 77 protrudes radially outwards from the relative suction cup 67, by a spring 78 interposed between the disc 63 and the Rod 76 itself, and is locked in a retracted position (shown in a continuous line in Figure 9), in which the fork 77 does not protrude radially outwards from the relative suction cup 67, by a rocker 79 hinged to the disc 63 to oscillate , with respect to the disc 63, around a fulcrum axis 80 transversal to axis 62.

The rocker 79 is normally kept in a locking position (Figure 7), in which a first arm of the rocker 79 engages a coupling flange 81 formed around the rod 76, by a spring 82 interposed between the disk 63 and a second arm of the rocker arm 79, and is moved into a release position (not shown), in which the first arm of the rocker arm 79 disengages the flange 81 to allow the spring 78 to move the rod 76 into its extracted position, from an actuation device 83 connected to the control unit 47.

As illustrated in Figures 7, 10, and 11, the device 83 comprises an electromagnet 84, which is fixed to the frame 10 at the station 8, and has an output shaft 85, which is mounted to rotate around a its own longitudinal axis 86 parallel to the direction 14, and has a horizontal bracket 87 transversal to the axis 86 itself connected at one of its free upper ends.

The device 83 also comprises a horizontal pin 88, which extends through the bracket 87 orthogonally to the axis 86 and to the bracket 87 itself, and supports a roller 89, which is rotatably coupled to the pin 88, and is moved by the rotation of the shaft 85 around the axis 86 between an operating position (not shown), in which the wheel 89 is arranged inside the advancement path of the rockers 79 around the axis 62 to engage the rockers 79 and move them to their release positions, and a rest position (figure 7), in which the wheel 89 is positioned outside the advancement path of the rockers 79 around the axis 62.

The operation of the machine 1 will now be described with reference to a single pocket 19 and starting from an instant in which:

the pocket 19 in question is advanced by the wheel 4 through the transfer station 6 in phase with a pocket 56 of the star wheel 52 and, therefore, with a bottle 2;

the intermediate portion 35 of the discharge duct 32 associated with the considered pocket 19 is arranged in its second operating position for discharging the solid forms 3 to the recirculation device 27;

the gate 44 of the duct 32 in question is arranged in its release position;

the wheel 89 is placed in its rest position;

the rockers 79 are arranged in their locking positions; And

the rods 76 and, therefore, the forks 77 are arranged in their rearward positions.

Once the bottle 2 has been transferred from the pocket 56 of the wheel 52 into the pocket 19 of the wheel 4, the portion 35 is moved to its first operating position for discharging the solid shapes 3 inside the bottle 2 itself, and the passage of each shape solid 3 along the upper portion 33 of the duct 32 is detected by the photocell 48.

When the control unit 47 detects the passage of an overall number of solid shapes 3 equal to a determined threshold value, the actuation device 36 is activated to move the portion 35 back to its second operating position and allow the wheel 4 to advance the bottle 2 with the correct number of solid shapes 3 through the transfer station 8 in phase with a seat 66 of the wheel 59.

At station 8, the duct 74 of the seat 66 in question engages the suction mouth 73 so as to connect the suction cup 67 with the pneumatic circuit 68, extract the bottle 2 from the pocket 19, and retain it inside the seat 66. Once the bottle 2 has been inserted inside the plate 20b, the duct 74 of the seat 66 in question disengages the mouth 73 to finally allow the wheel 59 to release the bottle 2 itself to the belt conveyor 58 at the station 60.

According to a further operating mode, when the bottle 2 has been filled with a total number of solid shapes 3 equal to the threshold value stored in the control unit 47, the gate 44 is moved to its stop position, and the portion 35 is maintained in its first operative position to allow the solid shapes 3 to fall onto the gate 44 itself.

When the number of solid forms 3 accumulated on the gate 44 is less than or at most equal to the threshold value stored in the control unit 47, the portion 35 is moved again to its second operating position to divert the solid forms 3 towards the recirculation device 27 .

Once the full bottle 2 has been transferred to wheel 59 at station 8 and a new empty bottle 2 taken from wheel 52 at station 6, the gate 44 is moved to its release position to allow the solid forms 3 accumulated on the gate 44 to go down inside the new bottle 2.

If the number of solid forms 3 accumulated on the gate 44 is equal to the threshold value stored in the control unit 47, the gate 44 is immediately moved to its stop position so as to prevent further solid forms 3 from descending into the bottle 2 ; whereas, in the event that the number of solid forms 3 accumulated on the gate 44 is less than the threshold value stored in the control unit 47, the gate 44 is firstly kept in its release position to complete the filling of the bottle 2 and is then moved to its stop position.

According to a third operating mode, the bottle 2 fed through the station 8 with inside it an overall number of solid shapes 3 lower than the threshold value stored in the control unit 47 is not transferred to the wheel 59 and is left on the wheel 4 to complete the own filling during a second movement of the bottle 2 itself from station 6 to station 8.

In this regard, the control unit 47 commands the closure of the solenoid valve 71 so as to prevent the suction cup 67 of the seat 66 considered from sucking the bottle 2 inside the seat 66 itself, and activates the device 83 to move the wheel 89 in its operative position, release the rocker arm 79, and allow the spring 78 to move the fork 77 in its extracted position so as to keep the bottle 2 in the pocket 19 and insert it inside the tray 20b.

To prevent the feeding device 5 from advancing a new empty bottle 2 inside the pocket 19 still occupied by the incomplete bottle 2, the auger 49 is first stopped so as to allow the wheel 52 to advance an empty pocket 56 through the station 6 is in phase with the pocket 19 considered and is then activated again so as to resume the regular feeding of the empty bottles 2 to the station 6 itself.

Following the advancement of the fork 77 arranged in the extracted position downstream of the station 8, the roller 89 is moved back to its rest position and disengaged from the advancement path of the rockers 79, the solenoid valve 71 is opened again, and the rocker 79 is again moved to its locking position by the spring 82.

At this point, the fork 77 is again advanced through station 8 in phase with a new bottle 2, which engages the fork 77 and, being blocked radially inside by the pocket 19, moves the rod 76 into its position retracted against the thrust of the spring 78 so as to engage the flange 81 with the rocker arm 79.

According to the variant illustrated in Figure 12, each photocell 48 is eliminated and replaced with a known capacitive transducer 90 of the type described and illustrated, for example, in the patent application WO-2006/035285-A2 of the same Applicant, the content of which is fully incorporated in the present patent application.

The capacitive transducer 90 is integrated in a bushing 91 inserted inside the upper portion 33 of the relative duct 32 coaxially to the axis 34, and is suitable for measuring the weight of the solid form 3 fed from time to time through the portion 33.

The capacitive transducer 90 makes it possible to distinguish between solid shapes 3 complete and, therefore, having a weight equal to a determined threshold value and solid shapes 3 that are incomplete and, therefore, weighing less than the threshold value itself, and allows the actuation device 36 to move the intermediate portion 35 of the duct 32 to a further third operating position for rejecting the incomplete solid forms 3 in a collection container not shown.

Obviously, the solid forms 3 that are incomplete and, therefore, rejected are not counted by the control unit 47 thus guaranteeing a more reliable and precise filling of the bottles 2 than the solution with the photocells 48.

According to a variant not shown, the intermediate portion 35 of each exhaust duct 32 is fixed, and each duct 32 is provided with a movable diverter member inside the duct 32 itself between the aforementioned first, second and third positions operational. When the diverter member is disposed in the second operative position and in the third operative position, the solid forms 3 are fed to the manifold 28 and to the aforementioned collection container (not shown) through respective openings obtained through the duct 32.

Claims (1)

CLAIMS 1.- Machine for filling bottles (2) with solid forms (3) of pharmaceutical products, in particular capsules, pills, tablets and / or tablets, the machine comprising a conveyor device (4, 5, 7) to advance in succession of a plurality of bottles (2) along a determined path (P); and a metering device (4), which is arranged along the path (P), comprises a containment tank (21) of the solid forms (3), and is provided with a plurality of discharge ducts (32) of the solid forms (3) from the containment tank (21) in relative bottles (2); and being characterized in that it further comprises, for each exhaust duct (32), a respective diverter device (35) movable between a first operating position, in which the diverter device (35) is arranged in such a way as to allow the feeding of the solid forms (3) along the discharge duct (32) and inside the relative bottle (2), and a second operating position, in which the diverter device (35) is arranged in such a way as to prevent the feeding of the solid forms (3) along the discharge duct (32) and inside the relative bottle (2). 2.- Machine according to Claim 1, in which each diverter device (35) is defined by a portion of the relative discharge duct (32) movable between said first and second operating positions. 3.- Machine according to Claim 1, in which each diverter device (35) comprises a movable diverter member inside the relative exhaust duct (32) between said first and second operating positions, and an opening obtained through the duct discharge pipe (32) to discharge the solid forms (3) outside the discharge pipe (32) itself when the diverter element is in its second operating position. 4.- Machine according to any one of the preceding claims and furthermore comprising a recirculation device (27) for recirculating the solid forms (3) discharged outside each discharge duct (32) into the containment tank (21) when the relative diverter device (35) is in its second operating position. 5.- Machine according to Claim 4, in which the recirculation device (27) comprises a collection manifold (28) suitable for receiving the solid forms (3) discharged outside the discharge ducts (32) when the relative diverter devices (35) are arranged in their second operating positions, and feeding means (29) for transferring the solid forms (3) from the collection manifold (28) to the containment tank (21). 6.- Machine according to any one of the preceding claims and further comprising a counting device (46) for calculating the passage of a given number of solid shapes (3) along each discharge duct (32) and, for each diverter device (35), a respective actuation device (36) adapted to move the diverter device (35) itself between said first and second operating positions in response to a signal coming from the counting device (46). 7.- Machine according to Claim 6, wherein the counting device (46) comprises a detection device (48; 90) mounted along each discharge duct (32) to detect the passage of each solid form (3) along the exhaust duct (32) itself, and an electronic control unit (47) connected with the detection devices (48; 90) and with the actuation devices (36) so as to move each diverter device (35) into its second operating position when the number of solid forms (3) fed through the relative exhaust duct (32) is equal to a determined value stored in the electronic control unit (47). 8. A machine according to any one of the preceding claims and furthermore comprising a container for collecting the incomplete solid forms (3); each diverter device (35) being movable, moreover, in a third operating position, in which the diverter device (35) is arranged in such a way as to prevent the feeding of the solid forms (3) along the relative discharge duct (32) and inside the relative bottle (2) and to feed the solid forms (3) to the collection container. 9.- Machine according to Claim 8, in which each discharge duct (32) is further provided with a measuring device (90) for measuring the weight of the solid mold (3) fed from time to time along the duct drain (32) itself; the deflector device (35) being moved to the third operating position when the weight of the solid form (3) measured by the measuring device (90) is lower than a determined threshold value. 10.- Machine according to any one of the preceding claims, in which each discharge duct (32) is further provided with a stop device (43) movable between a stop position of the solid forms (3) along the duct (32) and a position for releasing the solid forms (3) in the relative bottle (2).