JPS5827938B2 - Capsule Seizouhouhou Oyobi Souchi - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an apparatus for manufacturing capsules, and more particularly to an improvement in an apparatus for cooling freshly immersed capsule pins to provide excellent film formation.

When manufacturing hard-shell pharmaceutical capsules by conventional equipment, capsule-forming pins placed on a rod are first dipped into a liquid gelatin solution, and then the pins coated with the freshly formed liquid film are held. This involves a series of steps such as transferring the bar to an elevator, raising it while rotating to an upper drying rack, and moving it through a drying oven to solidify the coating.

In this operation, it has been considered important to keep the pin rod rotating throughout the lift in order to maintain a uniform distribution of the liquid film on the pin.

However, in actual operation, non-uniform thicknesses are created in the walls of the capsule shell, especially in the so-called "shoulders".

For example, it has been found that the wall of the shoulder on the leading side of the pin in the direction of rotation is usually thin, while on the trailing side it is relatively thick.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an improved device for processing freshly dipped capsule forming pins.

It is also an object of the invention to provide an economical device for making capsules with improved wall thickness properties.

Furthermore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a device for maintaining an average radial distribution of the coating, especially on the "shoulders", in the production of dip-molded capsules.

These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be understood from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Referring to FIG. 1, a conventional form of dip bath 10 includes a dip vessel 11 surrounded by a reservoir 12 containing dip liquid 13 within a thermostatic cover 14 .

The capsule pin 20 installed on the rod 21 is located at the bottom of the lift 30 or at the loading position B1 as shown in the figure: immersion position A1
It is placed in a series of operating positions consisting of a loading and unloading position C (dashed line), a platform 40 which is a starting position following a series of dryers.

A mechanical finger device (not shown) is associated with each immersion system.
Provision is made to engage and move the pin rod located at A along the guideway 22 to the loading position B of the elevator.

The elevator has a pair of vertical gears 31 which are likewise associated with a pair of pinion gears 32 and a disc 33.

The two discs each have a groove 34 and are positioned in the loading position shown in line with the top surface of the guideway 22 to accommodate each bin advancing for loading purposes. - Both ends of the rod are placed in the receiver.

Around the elevating disk 33 there is a retaining ring 35 with a collar, which is stationary with respect to the disk and holds the pin rod as the disk rotates upward on the toothed rod. It serves to hold the inside of the groove.

Due to the movement of the elevator, the combination of gears and toothed rods reaches the upper end portion C depicted by the broken line, and at that position the lifted pin rod stands with the pins facing each other and can be moved from the groove 34 to the platform 40. As such, it has been adjusted.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the air duct or air conduit 50 is provided with an open outlet 51 located below the loading position B.

The air duct leads to a suitable source of clean air (not shown) at room or cold temperature and under positive pressure.

As can be seen, the air duct outlet 51 is large enough to surround the row of pin ends 20a of the rod in the loading position.

In this regard, the end of the conduit 50 may have an external bulge 52 to provide a large outward flow of air around the row of pins.

The embodiment seen in FIG. 2 features a distribution baffle 53 and a deflection shelf 54 that allow a uniform airflow to flow across the opening 51 and into the compartment surrounding the pin end 20a in the loading position. This guarantees that the vehicle will pass through the area.

The shelving shelf preferably fits snugly into the outlet opening and is removable for cleaning purposes.

In another preferred embodiment illustrated in FIG. 3, air duct 50a is located directly above loading location B.

This intercepts the suction chamber surrounding the elevator and leading to a suitable suction source (preferably remote from the elevator), which draws air through the ducts from the intake openings 51a and 51b. It plays the role of absorption.

The openings 51a are straight and extend around each row of pins standing in the loading position B.

The opening 51a thus becomes an inlet for atmospheric air through the demarcated area surrounding the end of the pin located as described above.

The opening 51b becomes a gap for loading and unloading the rod 21 from the position C onto the platform 40.

The operation of the device of the invention is shown below.

In a typical operation, the pins 20 are immersed in a gelatin solution, pulled up, exposed to an air stream and moved to loading position B, lifted while rotating, transferred to a dryer, and stripped. , and undergoes a lubrication process (preparation for the next cycle).

For soaking, the solution, which may be an aqueous gelatin solution, is heated at a suitable temperature, preferably about 110-1150°C (43,
3-46,1°C).

The pins are dipped five rods at a time, at a rate of 20 rods per minute.

It takes about 15 seconds to reach the drying table 40 by dipping, loading, lifting, and moving.

The time required to move to the elevator (from position A to position B) is less than 1 second, and then the bottle-rod set is in its rest position.

According to the invention, the air is supplied to the opening 51 (or 5
1a) under conditions that allow the coating on the pin to cool and stabilize, such as at room temperature or below, under controlled humidity (preferably 50% or less), and at a linear flow rate. Approximately 5 feet per second (1,52
Transported under the conditions of m).

Advantageously, the airflow is continuous, so that the pin is exposed unchanged during the movement to position B and during the rest position and the rise.

All film stabilization effects occur substantially during movement and rest.

The elevator then operates in the normal manner and lifts the loaded bins.
While rotating, the set of rods arrives at a terminal position C adjacent to the drying table 40.

The pin rotates while rising (standard rotation is 2 and a half times)
, from the downward position of the pin to the upward position of the pin indicated by the dashed line.

After a brief downtime, the pin set is transferred to drying table 40 and then processed for the remainder of the cycle in the usual manner.

Upon loading and lifting with the described conventional device, each pin is subjected to linear and radial acceleration, and deformations of the wet coating appear.

FIG. 4 illustrates the coating deformation 22a, shown in dashed lines, that occurs as the pin 20 rotates -L up from the loading position.

For comparison, according to the present invention, coating 22b, shown in solid lines, is typical of a coating that has undergone air treatment during similar rotations.

The coating at shoulder line 20b advantageously remains substantially uniform.

Similarly, FIG. 5 shows the coating distribution of a fully elevated pin.

Dashed line 22b illustrates the contour of the coating when the pin first reaches position C.

A solid line 22c shows the outline of the coating on the pin after drying.

Thus, before the drying process, the coating at the end 20a of the pin is relatively thick.

However, continued drying causes the coating to redistribute itself axially relative to the pin surface, resulting in a generally uniform thickness.

A critical measure of the quality of a molded capsule is the shoulder line 20
It is related to the variation of wall thickness in b.

Ideally, the wall thickness of the capsule in question should be constant throughout the shoulder line.

Also, the walls should be relatively thick at the shoulders.

In this regard, in order to demonstrate the advantages obtained by the present invention, the minimum and maximum wall thicknesses at the shoulder line of capsules made according to the invention and comparative standard capsules made with conventional equipment are shown. A comparison of the values is shown in the following table.

According to the above results, it can be seen that the shoulder wall of the capsule made according to the present invention is superior to that of the standard capsule both in terms of flexibility and thickness variation.

Although the present invention in the capsule manufacturing apparatus has been described in sufficient detail as above, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that wide modifications may be made in the details without departing from the scope of the claims of the present invention. You will see that it is possible to accomplish this.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below.

(1) A device according to the claims.

(2) The device described in (1) above, in which the distribution port is located on the negative side of the loading position and is connected to an air conduit device or a positive pressure air source.

(3) The device of (1) above, wherein the distribution port is located above the loading position and the air conduit device communicates with the depressurized air source.

(4) The apparatus of (1) above, wherein the air pressure is suitable to generate an air flow passing through the demarcated area at a velocity sufficient to stabilize the liquid film on the covered pin located in the loading position. Something that leads to the source.

(5) The device according to (3) above, wherein the air conduit device includes a chamber surrounding the elevator.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway front view of the capsule manufacturing apparatus including the dip bath, elevator and air duct system; FIG. 2 is a view of the air duct taken from line 2--2 in FIG. 1; It is. Figure 3 is a fragmentary view of the air duct, Figures 4 and 5 are
The figure shows an enlarged view of the coated molded pin in the downward and upward positions, respectively. 10: Immersion tank, 11: Immersion container, 13: Immersion liquid, 20:
Capsule pin, 21: Dedicated, 22: Guideway, 30: Elevator, 31: Tooth rod, 32: Pinion gear, 33: Disc, 3
4: Groove, 35: Holding ring 40: Stand, 50: Air conduit, 50a: Air duct, 51: Opening outlet, 51at5
1b' opening, 52: outer overhang, 53: distribution baffle plate,
54: Jahei shelf board.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A set of capsule pins - a rod, an immersion bath, and a gelatin solution.The pins are immersed in a gelatin solution, and the pins, which have a liquid coating that is unevenly distributed due to the action of gravity during movement, are pulled up and inverted, and the pins are attached to the pins. comprising a device for continuously moving the bottle-rod at predetermined time intervals through a stepwise cycle consisting of drying and stripping the applied coating, said moving device raising the bottle-bar from the loading position; In an immersion molding capsule making apparatus, the apparatus includes an elevator for rotating and a device for feeding a freshly dipped rod of pins, with the pins facing downward, into the loading position, located proximate to the distribution baffle and the loading position. A distribution port is provided to move the cooling air upwardly and to provide a uniform air flow through a demarcated area around the row of pin ends of the bar toward the coated pin ends at least in the loading position. An immersion-molding capsule manufacturing apparatus characterized by being provided with one air conduit device for supplying air.