JPS58397A - Automatic cleaning and drying method for punch of tablet machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To vaporize drops of water while washing surfaces of punches, and to prevent rust, by ejecting steam for finish cleaning after ejecting pressurized warm water to punches of a tablet machine in preliminary cleaning. CONSTITUTION:A punch set box 1 containing punches 2 to be cleaned is put in a cleaning chamber 11 from an entrance door 5, which is then closed. When the box 1 moves forth to turn on a limit switch LSW1, a motor 8 drives a roller conveyor 13 to right and also allows a motor 10 to start simultaneously, thus ejecting a pressurized warm water, which has 5-7kg/cm<2> and 50-60 deg.C from nozzles 3 over the box 1. When the box 1 reaches a limit switch LSW2, the motor reverse to move the box 1 to left, and also permits ejection of steam with 2-3kg/cm<2>. Further, when the box 1 reaches the limit switch LSW1, the motor 8 turns normally again to move the box 1 to right. Thus, the box 1 slides between the limit switches LSW1 and LSW2 to eject the warm water over respective punches in the former half and the steam in the latter uniformly.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an automatic cleaning and drying method for punches of a tablet press. After being used in a tablet press, the punches are contaminated with powder and lubricating oil. When punching pharmaceutical tablets, it is safe to avoid residual powder, lubricating oil, and cleaning fluid, and the formation of rust and mold is also undesirable.

On the other hand, the punches of tablet presses require high processing precision, are easily deformed, and are often made of materials that are easily rusted. For this reason, when cleaning the punches of a tablet press, it is necessary to remove both powder and lubricating oil, to ensure that rust is prevented, and to use a cleaning method that prevents the punches from colliding with each other. There are constraints such as what must be done. For this reason, white kerosene is used as a cleaning liquid.

Alcohol-based or chlorine-based volatile organic solvents.

This was limited to liquid synthetic detergents.

In addition, the cleaning method used when using these cleaning solutions is the cleaning bath method. There was no other option than the sealed can method. The use of the cleaning method described above has resulted in the following drawbacks. That is, (1) the degree of cleaning is not necessarily sufficient, taking into consideration the remaining cleaning liquid. ■ Manual finishing cleaning or wiping work remains, so it can be automated and removed.

■ Splashing and volatilization of solvent, which is not in accordance with health and safety standards, is observed during cleaning and drying. ■Solvent disposal is not easy.

etc. is the beginning point. In general, washing and drying operations can be divided into six operations: pre-washing, final washing, and drying, and it goes without saying that the selection of the washing liquid at this time brings about a major change in these operations. From the standpoint of economy, health and safety, and post-processing, water is considered the preferred cleaning fluid, but water at room temperature and pressure has poor cleaning performance and can cause rust, which is fatal as a cleaning fluid for pestles. There were drawbacks.

This invention cleans the pestle using only water as the cleaning liquid, and in the manufacturing of pharmaceuticals, the cleaning level is maintained in compliance with legal regulations such as the "Manufacturing Control and Quality Control Regulations for Pharmaceuticals" (Ordinance No. 30 of the Ministry of Health and Welfare). This method was developed with the aim of automatically washing and drying. In the method of the present invention, immediately after pre-washing is performed by spraying pressurized hot water onto the pestle, final cleaning is performed by spraying steam, and this method achieves a higher degree of cleaning than any of the conventional methods. He came back. Also, heating with hot water,
At the end of cleaning due to heating by steam, the temperature of the pestle is 9.
Since the temperature has reached nearly 0C, all the water droplets adhering to the surface of the punch will evaporate by simply leaving it in the chamber for about 10 minutes after cleaning. Moreover, the temperature of the pestle remains higher than room temperature for a while even after the surface has dried.

If you apply a rust preventive agent during this time, you can guarantee that it will remain free of rust for a long time. No matter what cleaning method you use, application of rust preventive agent cannot be omitted. In the method of the present invention, if the temperature of the hot water in pre-washing is too low, the cleaning performance will deteriorate and it will take too much time to heat up the pestle in the first final washing.

On the other hand, if the temperature of the hot water is too high, starch, which is often used in pharmaceutical tablets, tends to gelatinize, and once it gelatinizes and adheres to the pestle, it becomes a stain that is extremely difficult to remove.

For these reasons, it is desirable that the temperature of the hot water is in the range of 50 to 60C. A pressure of 5 to 794 is effective for this hot water. In addition, the pressure of water vapor at 2 to 5 degrees is sufficient. In addition to the method of this invention, cleaning methods using only the injection of pressurized hot water or only the injection of steam can be considered, but in the former case, not only the degree of cleaning would be low, but also the surface temperature of the punch would be too low. Since the temperature rises to room temperature KM before the water droplets adhering to the surface have dried, rust is likely to occur. In this invention, the ability to maintain a state in which the temperature rise is higher than room temperature for a while with the pestle dryer is effective in terms of rust prevention. On the other hand, in the latter method, in which only steam is injected, the starches in the prescription ingredients gelatinize and become keratinized, resulting in a significantly poor cleaning performance.

In the method of this invention, the pressure is 5-7 and the temperature is 50-6.
A method of cleaning in two stages: injection of pressurized hot water at 0C and injection of steam at a pressure of 2 to 6 degrees has yielded the most favorable results in terms of cleanliness and rust prevention. In addition, when cleaning a group of punches instead of one punch, in order to achieve an even degree of cleaning for each punch, use various combinations of hot water and steam injection nozzle diameters, injection patterns, and times. However, the effect was weak, and a method in which the punch set box itself was repeatedly swung under the spray nozzle yielded preferable results.

To explain the apparatus for actually rolling up the method of the present invention with reference to the drawings, FIG. 1(a) is a perspective view of a punch set box 1. It has a carrying net B. FIG. 1(b) shows the arrangement of networks A and B. FIG. 2 shows 201 pestles placed on the mesh B with the contaminated part facing up, inserted into each stitch of the mesh. Figure 6 shows about 40 to 60 pestles 2 with the contaminated parts facing up.

The figure shows that one piece is placed in each mesh of the mesh, placed on the mesh B, and stored in the set box 1.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of the entire apparatus for implementing the method of the present invention, in which rollers 15 are arranged on a pedestal 17, and a cleaning chamber ζ-11 is provided in the center. Channo-1
1 has an entrance door 5 and an exit door 6. A hot water nozzle row 3 and a steam nozzle row 4 are attached to the upper part of the chamber 11. FIG. 5 shows an enlarged view of the hot water nozzle row 6 and the steam nozzle row 4.

As shown in FIG. 3, the pestle 2 to be cleaned is placed in a net A.

The punch set box 1, which is supported and stored by B, is moved from the left side to the right side in FIG. 4 by pushing on the roller 15, and is put into the cleaning chamber 11 through the artificial door 5, and the door 5 is closed. When the box 1 passes through the left switch LSW1 in the chamber 11, the roller conveyor driving motor 8 first drives the belt 14 on the rollers in the direction of the arrow 1, and therefore the roller conveyor 16 moves in the right direction in the figure. driven by. At the same time, the hot water pump drive motor 10 is started by a signal from the limit switch LAW1, and the pump 9 sends hot water from the hot water tank 7 to the hot water nozzle 6 through a pipe 16. Pressure 5-7 KV from hot water nozzle 6, temperature 50-60C
Box 1 of pressurized hot water. That is, it is sprayed onto the pestle 2. When the roller conveyor moves the box 1 to the right by A 16 and reaches the limit switch LSW2K on the right side, the roller conveyor drive motor 8 changes its rotation direction and drives the belt 14 in the direction of arrow 2.

The roller conveyor 13 is driven in the direction of arrow 2, that is, to the left in the figure, and one box 1 is moved to the left. When the box 1 reaches the limit switch LSWI WC, the rotation direction of the motor 80 is reversed again and the box 1 is moved to the right side. Like this
Then, for the predetermined time 'l' (= it+s2), the function 1 box 1
swings between the limit switch LS11 and LSI5, so that the hot water injection in the first half t1 and the steam injection in the second half t2 hit each pestle equally.

The drainage water is received by a drainage receiver 12 under the pedestal and guided outward through piping 19. Steam is introduced from the outside through piping 18. The pressure of the water vapor is 2 to 6 V, dew. The injection time 1t, 1 of these hot water and steam is predetermined based on the degree of contamination and the like.

When the predetermined time T (=tt+tz) ends, the reversal repetition sequence for swinging also ends. At the same time, pestle set box 1
The motor 8 begins to rotate in the direction of arrow 1 in order to discharge the water from the channel chisel. When the preset discharge time t3 ends, the motor 8 stops.

All sequences end. The box 1 continues to move to the right, the exit door 6 opens, the box 1 comes out of the cleaning chamber/1-11, and reaches the position 1' in the figure.

Just by leaving Box 1 in that location, all the water droplets adhering to the pestle will evaporate within about 10 minutes.

Furthermore, wait until the temperature of the pestle drops to near room temperature, then spray it with a rust preventive agent and store it. The surface of the punch that was automatically washed and dried as described above had sufficient cleanliness, and at the same time, the occurrence of rust could not be prevented even after being stored for a long time.

The method of the present invention is as described above, and uses water as a cleaning agent, and is able to achieve a higher degree of cleaning than any of the conventional methods in a simple manner.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1(a) is a perspective view of a punch set box, FIG. 1(b) is an explanatory diagram of the arrangement of nets A and B, and FIG. 2 is a diagram of the relationship between the pestle and the net. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the pestles stored in the set box. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of the cleaning device, and FIG. 5 is an explanatory enlarged diagram showing hot water and steam nozzles. Explanation of symbols 1... Punch set box 2... Punch 5... Warm water nozzle row 4... Steam nozzle row 5... Entrance door
6... Exit door 7... Hot water tank 8
...Motor 91.・Hot water pump 10...
Motor 11... Leveling machine 12... Drainage receiver 1! I... Roll conveyor 14... Roll conveyor jDb -! Ruto 15...Koro 16
... Piping 17 ... Frame 18.19 ...
・Piping (2 people) Figure 1, 3m

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) In the method of automatically washing and drying the punches of a tablet press, the first step of cleaning is to apply pressure of 5-7 (-snow, temperature 50-6
Preliminary cleaning and warming of the pestle are performed by spraying pressurized hot water at 0C, followed by a second step at a pressure of 2 to 5"Vca.
An automatic cleaning and drying method for the punches of a tableting machine, which includes finishing cleaning by jetting steam and heating the punches.
- 12) Repeatedly rock the punch set box so that the hot water and steam sprayed onto each of the punches in the group of punches arranged in the box with the contaminated part facing upwards is evenly applied. An automatic cleaning and drying method for a tablet-like punch according to item {1} of the patent scope, characterized by: