WO2016184690A1

WO2016184690A1 - Blister-packing machine

Info

Publication number: WO2016184690A1
Application number: PCT/EP2016/060045
Authority: WO
Inventors: Roland BOHLMANN
Original assignee: Blisterpartner Gmbh & Co. Kg
Priority date: 2015-05-18
Filing date: 2016-05-04
Publication date: 2016-11-24
Also published as: EP3297922A1; DE102015107731A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a blister-packing machine for blister-packing medications (12), comprising an output (20) for outputting a blister tube (18) having blister-packed medications and a depositing device (26) for depositing the blister tube (18) output from the output (20). According to the invention, a sag-determining device (34) for determining a sag of the blister tube (18) between the output (20) and the depositing device (26) has a light barrier (36), which comprises a first light path (40) and a second light path (42), wherein the first light path (40) intersects the second light path (42).

Description

Verblisterungsmaschine

The invention relates to a blistering machine for blinding medicaments with (a) an output for dispensing a blister hose with blistered medicaments and (b) a depositing device for depositing the blister hose dispensed from the dispensing. According to a second aspect, the invention relates to a sagging detection device for such a blistering machine. Such a blistering machine serves to produce a blister hose. A blister hose comprises a plurality of blister sections, which are interconnected, in particular via a separating aid, for example a perforation. The blister sections contain medicaments, for example tablets, capsules or the like. In addition, each blister section usually carries an indication of when the medication contained in the blister section should be taken, as well as the name of the patient.

Blister machines dispense the blister tubing that they created through the dispenser, the dispenser being formed, for example, by an opening in the dispenser. From there, the blister hose is usually picked up by a downstream depositing device and, for example, wound up on a take-up reel. In the wound state, the blister hose can then be supplied for further processing, for example, the blister hose can be fed to a blister band inspection device, by means of which the contents of the blister sections are checked and documented.

As a rule, the blistering machine generates a feed which is not constant over time. That is, the blister hose exits the output at a speed changing over time. It is therefore desirable that the depositing device wind the speed with which it deposits the blister hose, in particular on a take-up reel, to the speed with which the blister hose is produced. From DE 39 36 038 A1 a device for transferring an intermittently moving web into a continuously moving web in systems for the production of bag strings is known. In this device, two photocells are used to determine in which position the bag chain is located. A disadvantage of this system is that it generally offers not sufficiently high recognition reliability with regard to the position of the blister hose in blister tubes whose weight and weight distribution within a bag change greatly. From CH 497 330 A a method for controlling the sag of a flexible material web is known in which a light curtain is used with a light source and one or more photoresistors. On a flat light slope is disadvantageous that blister tubes with different loadings with drugs are poorly detectable in their position.

From DE 33 1 1 988 C1 a preheating device for heating a film web is known in which also photoelectric sensors are used to detect the slack. This system also has the disadvantages described above. WO 2005/100 165 A1 describes a manufacturing apparatus for a blister terschlauch, are now added to the identification elements such as holograms.

The invention has for its object to reduce disadvantages in the prior art.

The invention solves the problem by a generic blister machine comprising a sag detection device for determining a slack of the blister between dispensing and depositing device, the slack detecting device comprising a light barrier device. It has been found that such a sagging detection device ensures that the depositing device always deposits at the most favorable depositing speed. If the speed with which the laying device works is too low, the sag will increase. As a result, the light barrier device is activated and the speed can be increased.

The slack detection device is configured to detect excessive slack. It is possible, but not necessary, for the slack detection device to also be configured to detect too small a slack. If, for example, the sag detection device is designed such that only too great slack can be ascertained, the transfer device is preferably designed so that it deposits the blister hose at a speed which is greater than the speed with which the blister hose can be produced.

If the blister hose then shows too much slack, the lay-off device is activated and deposits the blister hose at a speed that is so great that the sag will decrease. Once it is determined by the slack detection device that the slack is no longer too great, the slacker is stopped or slowed down immediately or after a preset time has elapsed. It is also possible that the depositing device first reduces the depositing speed and then stops it. This ensures that the slack does not exceed a given threshold.

In the context of the present description, sag is a measure of the size of the portion of the blister which protrudes from the dispenser and is not caught by the dispenser. For example, as a measure of the sag, the length of the blister between the output and the depositing device can be selected. Alternatively, as a measure of the sag, the height of the lowest point of the blister between dispensing and the depositing device may be used. The output refers to a location of the blistering machine where the blister hose is finished and can be removed for further processing. For example, the output may be an output shaft, ie an opening in a housing around a body of the blistering machine in which the blistering occurs.

The laying device is understood in particular to mean a device by means of which the blister hose is brought into a compact arrangement. By way of example, the depositing device is a winding device which winds the blister hose onto a take-up reel. But it is also conceivable that the depositing device the blister hose meandering, for example, stores in a container. By the feature that the light barrier comprises a first light path and a second light path, wherein the first light path crosses the second light path, it is understood that a plane exists in which the first light path extends completely, with a projection of the second light path onto that plane crosses the first light path. In particular, a distance of the light paths is less than half the width of the blister tube.

In other words, it is possible that the two light paths extend along wind-skewed straight lines, wherein the distance between these two straight lines is preferably smaller than a width of the blister hose, in particular smaller than one third of the width of the blister hose. It has been found that the arrangement with a crossed light beam enables a reliable determination of the sag. The blister hose can rotate behind the output. By the crossed light beams, the slack can be reliably detected regardless of a rotation or torsion of the blister tube.

According to a preferred embodiment, the light barrier device has a base portion, a first fork and a second fork extending from the Extending base portion, wherein the first light path extends to a first height above the ground, the second light path extends to a second height above the ground and a distance between the bottom and the fork ends of the forks at least 1.5 times , in particular at least twice the minimum of the first height and the second height. Preferably, the light barrier device is open at the top and closed at the bottom. In the case of a very large sag, the blister hose is therefore usually located on the bottom of the light barrier device. As the sag decreases, the piece of blister hose that passes through the light barrier device leaves the ground and the area where the light paths pass. Therefore, if the light paths are uninterrupted, this is a sign that the slack is not too great. In particular, the depositing device is connected to the light barrier device in such a way that the depositing device increases its depositing speed, for example it begins to deposit when at least one of the light paths is interrupted.

It is favorable if the light barrier has a first detection area, so that a slack can be determined that is greater than a predefined maximum slack, and has a second detection area, so that a slack can be determined that is smaller than a predefined minimum range. Sag, wherein the depositing device is connected to the light barrier so that a depositing speed at which the depositing device deposits the blister hose increases when the sag is greater than the maximum sag and decreases when the sag is less than the minimum sag.

In particular, the increase in the laying speed also means that the laying speed is increased from zero to a greater value, that is to say that the laying apparatus is started.

By decreasing the depositing speed is meant in particular also a reduction to zero, that is, a stopping of the depositing device. To this In this way, the laying speed can always be set in such a way that the slack is within a predetermined interval between the minimum slack and the maximum slack.

It is advantageous if the depositing device has a take-up reel, wherein the take-up reel may comprise a reel motor, which is connected to the sagging determination device and designed to increase the rotational frequency of the take-up reel, if at least one of the light barriers is interrupted. In this case, these are the light barriers, which are interrupted when the slack is too great. If the slack is too small and there is a light barrier that is interrupted when the slack is too small, the spin frequency of the reel motor is reduced, for example to zero. According to a preferred embodiment, the slack detection device is non-positively and / or latchingly connected to a housing of a base body of the blistering machine. This makes it possible to easily adjust the position of the slack detecting device to the respective circumstances.

In the following the invention will be explained in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. It shows

Figure 1 is a schematic view of a sagging detecting device in a blistering machine according to the invention and

FIG. 2 shows a detailed view of a light barrier of the sagging determination device. FIG. 1 shows a blistering machine 10 according to the invention for blinding medicaments 12.1, 12.2, which are held in containers 14.1, 14.2,. For this purpose, the medicaments are introduced into blister sections 16.1, 16.2,... Of a blister tube 18. The blister tube 18 with the blistered medicaments exits from an output 20 in the form of an output shaft in a housing 22 of a base body 24 of the blistering machine 10. The blister hose 18 then passes to a depositing device 26, which has a take-up reel 28. The take-up reel 28 is driven by a reel motor 30, which is covered by a reel disc 32 in FIG. The reel disc 32 may be slightly inclined, so that the blister hose 18 rests on the reel disc 32.

It can be seen that the blister hose 18 sags between the output 20 and the take-up reel 28. The blistering machine 10 has a slack detection device 34 with which it can be determined how much the slack is pronounced. With solid lines of the blister tube 18 is marked with a large sag, dashed, the blister shown in a state with a lower sag.

FIG. 2 shows a detailed view of the sag detection device. It can be seen that this has a first light barrier 36 and a second light barrier 38. In the first photoelectric barrier 36, the light runs along a first light path 40, for the second photoelectric barrier 38 along a second light path 42. In the present case, the light for the first light path 40 is generated by a first light source 44 and detected by a first sensor 46. The light of the second light barrier 38 is generated by a light source 48 and detected by a second sensor 50. But it is also possible that only one light source is present and the sag detection device has a light diverter, for example, two suitably oriented mirror or a prism, so that a light beam along both the first light path 40 and the second light path 42 extends.

The slack detecting device 34 has a first fork 52 and a second fork 54 connected together in a base portion 56. Of the first light path 40 extends to a first height h ₄₀ over a bottom 58, ie the lowest point between the two forks 52, 54. The second light path extends to a second height h ₄₂ , which in the present case the first height h ₄₀ equivalent. A distance A between the base 58 and the upper end of the shorter fork or both forks, in the present case, 1, 5 times greater than the first height h _40th If the blister hose 18 shows too much slack, it interrupts at least one of the two light barriers 36, 38.

If the blister hose 18 interrupts one of the two light paths 40, 42, then a control 60 (cf., FIG. 1) of the depositing device 26 starts the reel motor 30, so that the blister hose 18 is wound onto the take-up reel 28. If the blister hose 18 has thereby moved away from the region of the light paths 40, 42, the controller 60 stops or controls the movement of the reel motor 30 in such a way that it moves much more slowly.

Schematically, it is shown in FIG. 2 that the sag detection device 34 can have a third light barrier 62, in which light runs along a third light path 64. In this case, there exists a first detection area D1 at the bottom of the slack detection device 34 and a second detection area D2 above the first detection area D1. If one of the light barriers in the first detection area D1 is interrupted, this is an indication that the slack of the blister hose is greater than a maximum sag given by the type of slack detection device 34. If the light barrier or one of the light barriers is interrupted in the second detection area D2, this is an indication that the sag is smaller than a minimum sag. If the slack is too small, the controller 60 (see Fig. 1) stops the reel motor 30. If the slack is too great, the controller 60 increases or starts a rotational frequency n of the reel motor 30.

Figure 2 shows that the sag detection device 34 can be attached to the housing 22 (see Figure 1) by means of magnets 66.1, 66.2. The slack detection device 34 may include the laydown device 26. Such a sagging detecting device 34 is configured to be connected to the main body 24 of the blistering machine 10. It is then sufficient to fasten the slack detection device 34 to the blistering machine 10 in order to wind up the blister hose 18 automatically.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS

10 blister machine

12 drug 50 second sensor

14 containers 52 first fork

16 blister section 54 second fork

18 blister hose 56 basic section

58 reason

20 issue

22 housing 60 control

24 main body 62 third light barrier

26 depositing device 64 third light path

28 Take-up reel 66 Magnet

30 reel motor A distance

32 reel h height

34 slack determination h ₄₀ first height

Device h ₄₂ second height

36 first photocell n rotation frequency

38 second light barrier v Deposit speed

40 first light path

42 second light path

44 first light source

46 first sensor

48 second light source

Claims

Claims: for blinding medicines (12), with

(A) an output (20) for dispensing a blister tube (18) with blistered drugs and

(b) a depositing device (26) for depositing the blister hose (18) discharged from the output (20),

marked by

(c) a slack detecting device (34) for detecting a

Sagging of the blister hose (18) between the output (20) and the depositing device (26),

(d) said slack detection device (34) having a light barrier (36) comprising a first light path (40) and a second light path (42),

(e) wherein the first light path (40) crosses the second light path (42).

Blister machine according to claim 1, characterized in that

the slack detecting device (34) has a base portion (56), a first fork (52) and a second fork (54) extending away from the base portion (56), and

- The first light path (40) up to a first height (h ₄₀ ) on the

Reason (58) extends

the second light path (42) extends over the base (58) to a second height (h ₄₂ ),

- A distance (A) between the base (58) and the fork ends of the forks (52, 54) at least 1, 5 times, in particular at least twice, the minimum of the first height (h ₄₀ ) and second height (h ₄₂ ) is.

3. Blister machine according to claim 2, characterized in that

(a) the photocell (36)

a first detection area (D1), so that a sag can be determined that is greater than a maximum sag, and

- Has a second detection area (D2), so that a sag can be determined, which is smaller than a minimum sag, and

(b) the depositing device (26) is connected to the light barrier (36) such that a laying speed (v) with which the depositing device (26) deposits the blister hose (18),

increases when the sag is greater than the maximum sag, and

decreases when the sag is less than the minimum sag.

4. Blister machine according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the depositing device (26) has a take-up reel (28).

5. blister machine according to claim 4, characterized in that the take-up reel (28) comprises a reel motor (30) which is connected to the slack detection device (34) and adapted to increase a rotational frequency (n) of the take-up reel (28), if at least one of the light barriers (36, 38, 62) is interrupted.

6. Blister machine according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that

the slack detection device (34) is non-positively and / or latchingly connected to a housing (22) of a base body (24) of the blistering machine (10).