WO2010065006A1

WO2010065006A1 - Device for producing encapsulated products

Info

Publication number: WO2010065006A1
Application number: PCT/UA2009/000053
Authority: WO
Inventors: Павел Петрович ПИВОВАРОВ; Евгений Павлович ПИВОВАРОВ
Original assignee: Pyvovarov Pavel Petrovich; Pyvovarov Yevgeniy Pavlovich
Priority date: 2008-12-04
Filing date: 2009-11-05
Publication date: 2010-06-10
Also published as: RU2422055C2; UA91616C2; RU2009132438A

Abstract

The invention relates to the medical, chemical, pharmaceutical and food industries, to livestock breeding and biotechnology, in particular to facilities for producing encapsulated products in such a way that seamless capsules with a diameter ranging from 1.0 to 10.0 mm are formed. The device for producing encapsulated products comprises a container for a capsule-filling matter, a storage capacitor for a circulating solution which is used as a transportation system and simultaneously as a substance for forming a capsule envelop, an encapsulation unit, a product pipeline system with a closed liquid transportation cycle and the capsule mechanical separation. The aqueous solution of the agent that is simultaneously the envelop-forming component is used as a transportation fluid.

Description

DEVICE FOR PRODUCTION OF CAPSULATED

PRODUCTS

The invention relates to medical, chemical, pharmaceutical, food industry, animal husbandry and biotechnology, in particular to equipment for the production of encapsulated products from fluid or viscous substances, suspensions, dispersions, emulsions, inverse emulsions, colloidal solutions, etc., to obtain seamless filled capsules diameter 1, 0 ... 10, 0 mm. The device provides for receiving products in the form of capsules with encapsulated water-soluble substances and / or substances in the colloidal state of emulsions, inverse emulsions, dispersions or suspensions, which are encapsulated in a water-soluble gel-forming agent, the solution of which simultaneously serves as a transport system. The technical result of the claimed invention is to obtain seamless filled capsules that have a spherical or close to spherical geometric shape, with a diameter of 1, 0 ... 10.0 mm. The proposed device is non-energy-intensive, reliable in operation, ensures the stability of obtaining capsules of a given diameter and shell thickness while maintaining the properties of the encapsulated substance, has a simplified design.

A device for producing granular products [1] is known, which includes an extrusion feed of a granulated substance from a dosing channel and droplet formation due to periodic oscillations with subsequent fixation of the droplets. To form droplets, non-sinusoidal pulsed oscillations are added to the dosage channel. The diameter of the droplets is controlled by changing the depth of their immersion in the forming liquid of the granulation column. A device for forming granular products includes a container for preparing a liquid to be granulated, a granulator with a metering channel, an electrodynamic vibrator connected to an electric pulse generator, and a granulation column. The dosage channel is set at a distance from the surface of the forming liquid in the column. The disadvantage of this device is the design complexity, the impossibility of stable production of capsules with a diameter of 1.0 ... 10.0 mm. Another disadvantage of this device is the impossibility of obtaining thermostable capsules, since the device can work with materials capable of thermotropic gelation only.

A device [2] is known, namely a capsule head for forming granular food products, which includes a housing with channels for supplying vegetable oil, shell material and filler, a nozzle with a cavity and channels for pulsating supply of vegetable oil, a mechanism for separating the jet into capsules, formed shell and filler, placed the upper part in the cavity of the nozzle with the formation of a horizontal gap, and a receiving funnel for capsules, characterized in that in order to improve the quality of the formation of cap sul of quick-gelling substance by creating a uniform temperature field in the zone of formation of filled capsules, the mechanism for separating the jet into capsules is made in the form of a truncated cone, which has a channel located along its axis and connected to the nozzle cavity, while the mechanism for separating the jet into capsules is installed in a receiving funnel so that its lower end is located from the entrance to the cylinder part of the funnel at a distance not less than the diameter of the end face, and the length of the truncated cone of the separation mechanism is at least three diameters of its channel, and the upper end of the separation mechanism adjacent to the slit is made beveled.

The disadvantage of this device is the complexity of the design, the complexity of operation, the inability to encapsulate the water component, the presence of a transport system in the form of vegetable oil. Another disadvantage of the device is the need for a clear balancing of the flows of the internal component, the shell material and the transport system in the form of vegetable oil. A device [3] for producing granular products is known, which includes a container for the initial mixture for forming granules with flexible pipelines, placed in a heat chamber, a granule forming unit including dies, receiving containers and a heat exchanger, motion drive, characterized in that the receiving containers are made in the form of separate cups, each of which consists of upper and lower vessels connected through a drainage tube, and a cooling element is installed inside the upper vessel of each receiving container, and the receiving containers are located in the sockets of the planetary mechanism mounted rotatably around a vertical axis.

The disadvantage of this device is the high energy consumption, the complexity of the design, the inability to form capsules with a diameter of more than 2 ... 2.5 mm with arbitrary outflow of the primary solution through a feed funnel into the forming liquid.

The prototype of the invention is a device [4] for the production of encapsulated products, the design of which provides for the production of capsules with a thermotropic shell and fat and / or oil contents inside and in the oil transport medium. For this purpose, the device’s design provides for a container with heating for shell material, a container for internal contents, a container and a transport system for vegetable oil, a pump group for their supply, a sealed system at the junction of the head and the funnel cone, a device for mechanically separating capsules and transport cooling Wednesday.

The device contains a container for a capsule filler substance and a storage tank for a circulating solution that acts as a transport system and at the same time is the substance from which the capsule shell forms, an encapsulation unit, a product piping system with a closed fluid transport cycle and a mechanical separation of the formed capsules. The encapsulation unit consists of a capsule head, a transparent sleeve with an axial channel for capsules, and a cooling column with a receiving funnel. The capsule head consists of a nozzle for supplying a shell material and a filler nozzle installed in it with an outgoing slit gap. The lower parts of the nozzles facing each other, respectively, of the inner and outer surfaces are made in the form of a reverse truncated cone passing into the cylinder, and the outgoing end of the filler nozzle is set to a cylindrical outgoing channel of the nozzle for supplying the material of the shell along the slip fit with the possibility of relative vertical movement. The cylindrical outgoing channel of the nozzle for supplying the shell material is made with cylindrical expansion in the lower part with a diameter and height equal to the diameter of the resulting capsules. The device also includes a tank for circulating coolant, the capsule head housing contains a cavity with channels for supplying and discharging the circulating coolant. The shell material supply pipe is located inside the coolant supply pipe. Furthermore, the device provided with a light source which illuminates the transparent encapsulation sleeve assembly connected to the power supply ^'through the chopper current, switching frequency is synchronized with the pulse frequency of flow of vegetable oil. The device contains a perforated container for separating the formed capsules from the transport system of vegetable oil.

The disadvantage of this device is the design complexity, high energy consumption, operation complexity, the impossibility of encapsulating the aqueous component, the presence of a transport system in the form of vegetable oil, the need for a clear balancing of the flows of the internal component, shell material and vegetable oil, the need to cool the transport system and heat the shell component. Another disadvantage of this device is the inability to obtain thermostable capsules, because the design of the device only works with materials capable of thermotropic gelation.

The objective of the invention is to provide a device with which it is possible:

- obtaining seamless capsules with a diameter of 1, 0 ... 10.0 mm, filled with filler; - improving the method of forming encapsulated products, which ensures the stability of obtaining capsules of a given diameter and shell thickness while maintaining the properties of encapsulated substances; - improving the quality of the formation of capsules from rapidly gelling substances.

To solve the problem in a known device for the production of encapsulated products, containing a container for a capsule filler substance, a storage tank for a circulating solution, which acts as a transport system and at the same time is the substance from which the capsule shell, encapsulation unit, and a product pipeline system with a closed transportation cycle are formed liquid and the mechanical separation of the formed capsules according to the invention, an aqueous solution is used as a transport fluid creates substances simultaneously a component of forming the shell.

In a particular embodiment, the capsule assembly comprises a capsule head with dies, which provides an axial supply of drops of the capsule filler substance in quantities that allow the formation of capsules with a diameter of 1.0 mm to 10.0 mm by supplying the drops vertically through the air, drops of the filler substance fall into the confluence zone of two laminar flows of the transport and simultaneously forming the shell of the solution, namely, in the receiving container for drops of capsule filler substance, which has a gap of up to 10 mm, azovannuyu two oppositely arranged parabolic shape planes, incorporated into the embedded container disposed in the receptacle for the filler material drops capsules. In another embodiment, the slit of the receiving container for drops of the capsule filler substance is located above the inclined transport tray at an angle that prevents capsules from crossing the flow of the forming solution, with the possibility of adjusting the inclination angle of the transport tray with a screw, and with the possibility of adjusting the distance between the slot of the receiving container for drops capsule filler material and transport tray by raising and lowering the transport tray by means of an adjusting screw mounted on the housing royals. In another embodiment, the transport tray is connected using a cone-shaped tray with a curved pipe, each turn of which is inclined towards the capsule separation grid and the length of which ensures that the capsules stay in it for a period of 20 to 1800 seconds. In another embodiment, droplets of capsule filler substance formed in the capsulator head fall into the product piping system, in which the forming solution forming the capsule shell is transported in a circulating laminar flow mode.

In another embodiment, the product piping system has a closed loop and includes a receiving container for drops of capsule filler substance with two opposed planes, providing a laminar flow regime of the forming solution forming the capsule shell, wherein said planes form a gap at the outlet of the receiving container, through which the forming solution, with the capsules captured under the encapsulation unit, enters the transport tray with an adjustable angle of inclination, which is equipped with a device for additional supply of a forming solution to form a capsule shell.

In FIG. presents a diagram of the proposed device. A device for producing encapsulated products is located on the housing 1 and contains a container 2 for the capsule filler substance placed in the shirt 3, which, if necessary, allows heating and adjusting the temperature of the capsule filler substance. The device also contains a storage tank 4 for circulating solution (hereinafter referred to as forming solution), which acts as a transport system and at the same time is the substance from which the capsule shell is formed. The tank 2 is connected by a pipeline 5 to the encapsulation unit 7, the tank 4 is connected by a pipe 6 with a valve 26 for regulating the flows of the forming solution with a receiving tank for drops 16 of the capsule filler substance and a transport tray 15 through which the formed drops 16 of the filler substance enter the system product pipeline, where it is carried out in a circulating mode laminar flow transportation of the material forming the shell - forming solution.

The encapsulation unit 7 consists of a capsule head 8 with dies, the head is installed at an adjustable distance from the surface of the continuous flow of the forming solution forming the capsule shell.

A pump 9 and a valve 10 are installed in the pipeline 5 for supplying the capsule filler material from the container 2; a pump 11 and a valve 26 are installed in the circulating pipe 6 for supplying the capsule shell forming fluid from the tank 4, which regulates the flow of the forming solution, after which the the solution is supplied through pipelines 12, 13, which have valves 14; one to the transport tray 15, the second to the receiving container for drops 16 of the capsule filler substance, in which the surface tension of the forming solution is broken and the drops 16 of the capsule filler substance are immersed. In the receiving container 27 for drops 16 of the capsule filler substance, another built-in container 29 with a side height below the container 27 is mounted. The container 29 is equipped with two opposite planes 30, 31 of parabolic shape, directed to each other so that a cut of the common bottom of the containers is formed 27 and 29 and a gap 28 is formed with a distance between the planes 30, 31 to 10 mm. When, using a pipe 13, a forming solution is supplied to the container 27, which forms the capsule shell, then it flows through the lower sides of the container 29 along the planes 30, 31 through two laminar flows, merging at the outlet into the common stream. In the place of formation of the total flow in the middle of the slot 28, a zone is formed that does not have surface tension. When drops 16 of the capsule filler substance are supplied to this zone from the encapsulation unit 7, then they do not “break” onto the surface of the forming solution forming the capsule shell under the surface layer without feeling the influence of surface tension.

The slot 28 of the receiving device is located above the inclined transport tray 15 at such an angle to its axis (for example 12 °), which ensures that the formed capsules do not intersect in the stream forming solution, which, pouring out of the slot 28, continues to flow down the transport tray 15, which is ensured by the angle of inclination, which is regulated by the screw 17. The distance between the transport tray 15 and the slot 28 is regulated by the adjusting screw 18 so that the forming solution flowing from the slot 28 into the transport tray 15, maintained laminarity. The screw 17 and the adjusting screw 18 are fixed to the housing 1 so that the angle of inclination of the transport tray 15 and the distance to the slit 28 are independently adjusted. At the same time, using a pipe 12, a forming solution is formed in the transport tray 15, forming a capsule shell, which occupies the entire plane of the transport tray 15 in the form of a continuous laminar flow. Due to this flow, the formed capsules are removed from under the slot 28 of the receiving container for drops 16 of the capsule filler substance, which prevents them from sticking together. In the absence of this flow, droplets 16 of the filler substance “knock” each other, stick together, which does not allow to achieve the technical result of the invention. The inclination angle of the transport tray 15 is provided by the screw 17 and must be such that the formed capsules roll along the transport tray 15, and do not flow with the forming solution in the stream. This ensures that the capsules are spherical in shape. With an increase in the angle of inclination, the formed capsules are stretched until they acquire a filiform shape.

Formed capsules to further give them the necessary characteristics through a cone-shaped tray 19 fall into a curved pipe 20, each turn of which is inclined towards the grid 21 of the capsule separation from the forming solution. The length of the pipeline 20 is selected in such a way as to ensure that the capsule remains in the flow of the forming solution for 20 to 1800 seconds and to achieve the required shell thickness and capsule diameter of 1.0 ... 10.0 mm, which increases proportionally with increasing length of the curved pipeline 20 and the residence time of the capsules in the forming solution. Using a grid, 21 capsules are separated from the forming solution, which then sent to the storage tank 4. In the lower part of the storage tank 4 is mounted a pipe 6, which is connected to the discharge part of the recirculation pump 11, after which the forming solution is fed to a new cycle. The product pipeline system consists of a receiving container 27 for drops 16 of the capsule filler substance with planes 30, 31 opposite to each other, which provide a laminar flow regime of the forming solution forming the capsule shell and form a gap 28 through which the forming solution is captured under the capsule encapsulation unit 7, it enters the transport tray 15 with an adjustable angle of inclination. This provides an additional supply of the forming solution through the pipe 12 to form a shell, followed by transportation of the capsules in a laminar flow through a curved pipe 20 with an adjustable slope and length. The pipeline 20 ends with a grid 21 for separating the capsules, from which the forming solution enters the storage tank 4 for subsequent circulation through the product pipeline system, which ensures continuous flow.

The achieved advantages (technical result) of the invention compared to the prototype are: - the possibility of obtaining thermostable spherical capsules with a diameter of from 1.0 mm to 10.0 mm; the thermal stability of the capsules is due to the fact that during operation of the device, droplets of the filler substance get into the forming solution by immersion, as a result of which the ion-exchange process occurs between the constituent components with the formation of a film in the form of a capsule;

- the ability to change the residence time of the capsules in the forming solution by adjusting the length of the transport tray and the curved pipeline;

- low energy consumption due to the absence of the need for heating and cooling the forming solution; lack of need to use vegetable oil as a transporting medium, which improves the operational characteristics and quality of the products obtained. The device operates as follows.

The forming solution forming the capsule shell is supplied from the storage tank 4 by the pump 11 and enters through the pipe b through the valve 26 and the pipe 13 into the receiving tank 27 for drops 16 of the capsule filler substance with the planes 30, 31 opposite to each other, where takes the form of a laminar flow. Through the slot 28, the forming solution enters the transport tray 15 with an adjustable angle of inclination. The transport tray 15 is equipped with a pipe 12 and valves 26 and 14, as well as a device for additional supply of a forming solution to form a capsule shell. After that, the forming solution through the cone-shaped tray 19 enters the curved pipe 20, the net 21 for separating the capsules passes, and then it enters the storage tank 4, in the lower part of which the pipe 6 is mounted, connected to the discharge part of the recirculation pump 11, through which subsequent circulation through the product pipeline system, thereby ensuring continuity of flow in a closed loop.

At the same time, the capsule head 8 from the tank 2, which can be heated due to the presence of a shirt 3, at a given temperature through the pipe 5 through the pump 9 enters the capsule filler substance, which, passing the capsule head 8 with dies, is formed into drops 16 with a given mass and diameter to form capsules with a diameter of 1.0 mm to 10.0 mm. Changing the diameter of the droplets 16 is carried out by adjusting the frequency of the pulsation of the pump 9. The droplets 16, due to the vertical axial feed, pass through the air into the receiving container 27 for drops of the capsule filler substance, which ensures breaking of the surface tension of the forming solution. Drops 16 are immersed in its laminar flow, where under the influence of surface tension forces are formed into a spherical shape, and under the action of ionotropic chemical forces are instantly fixed in capsules. The formed capsules move in the laminar flow of the forming solution along the transport tray 15, enter through the conical tray 19 into the curved pipe 20 and enter the grid 21, where they are separated from I l of the forming solution, which, through the storage tank 4, is pumped back through the pipe 6 to the product pipeline system through a pipe 6, thereby ensuring flow continuity, and the capsules remain on the grid 21, after which they are supplied for further processing. Thus, the proposed device allows to obtain capsules of a given size and thickness of the shell, high quality and to carry out their visual control.

The device provides convenient assembly, disassembly and maintenance of its components, precise regulation of the parameters that determine the encapsulation process.

LITERATURE

1. Patent UA 65405, IPC ⁷ A23L1 / 328, A23P1 / 12. The method of formulating granular products is that of an addition for the building. Claim 08/04/2003; publ. 08/15/2005.

2. Auth. testimonial. SU 1591937, IPC ⁵ A 23 P 1/04, A 23 L 1/328. Capsule head for forming granular food products. Claim 06/20/88; publ. 09/15/90.

3. Patent RU 2152746, IPC ⁷ A 23 P 1/02, A 23 L 1/328. Device for producing granular products. Claim 03/16/1999; publ. 07/20/2000.

4. Patent RU 2109504, IPC ⁶ A 61 J 3/07, A 23 P 1/04, A 23 L 1/328. Device for the production of encapsulated products. Claim 12/9/96; publ. 04/27/98.

Claims

CLAIM

1. A device for the production of encapsulated products, containing a container 2 for a capsule filler substance, a storage tank 4 for a circulating solution, which acts as a transport system and at the same time is the substance from which the capsule shell is formed, encapsulation unit 7, a product pipeline system with a closed fluid transport cycle and mechanical separation of the formed capsules, characterized in that an aqueous solution of a substance simultaneously being used as a transport liquid is component forming the sheath.

2. The device according to claim 1, characterized in that the encapsulation unit 7 contains a capsule head 8 with dies, which provides an axial supply of drops 16 of the capsule filler substance in quantities that allow the formation of capsules with a diameter of 1.0 mm to 10.0 mm, due to the supply of drops 16 vertically through the air, while the drops 16 of the filler substance fall into the confluence zone of two laminar flows of the transport and simultaneously forming the shell of the solution, namely, in the receiving container 27 for drops 16 of the capsule filler substance, which has 28 s up to 10 mm, formed by two oppositely disposed planes 30, 31 of parabolic shape, incorporated into the embedded container 29 disposed in the receptacle 27 for the material 16 drops filler capsules.

3. The device according to claim 1 or claim 2, characterized in that the slot 28 of the receiving container 27 for drops 16 of the capsule filler substance is located above the inclined transport tray 15 at an angle that prevents capsules from crossing in the flow of the forming solution, with the possibility of adjusting the angle of inclination the transport tray 15 by means of a screw 17, and with the possibility of adjusting the distance between the slot 28 of the receiving container 27 for drops 16 of the capsule filler substance and the transport tray 15 by raising and lowering the transport tray 15 by adjusting of screws 18 mounted on the housing 1 of the device.

4. The device according to one of paragraphs. 1-3, characterized in that the transport tray 15 is connected using a cone-shaped tray 19 with a curved pipe 20, which has the shape of a vertical spiral, each turn of which is inclined towards the mesh 21 of the capsule separation and the length of which ensures that the capsules stay in it for a time from 20 to 1800 seconds.

5. The device according to claim 1 or claim 2, characterized in that the drops 16 of the capsule filler substance formed in the capsule head 8 fall into the product pipeline system, in which the forming solution forming the capsule shell is transported in a circulating laminar flow mode

6. The device according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the product pipeline system has a closed cycle and includes a receiving container 27 for drops 16 of the capsule filler substance with two opposed planes 30, 31, providing a laminar flow regime forming the solution forming the shell of the capsules, while the planes 30, 31 form a gap 28 at the outlet of the receiving container 27, through which the forming solution, with the capsules captured under the capsule assembly 7, enters the transport tray 15 with an adjustable angle of inclination, which is equipped with a device for additional supply of a forming solution for forming a capsule shell