JPH0232080B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) This invention relates to an automatic cleaning and drying device for tablet punches.

(Prior art) Punches used in tablet machines are contaminated with powder, lubricating oil, etc., but as punches used to make medical tablets, it is necessary to avoid residual powder, lubricating oil, and even cleaning fluid. However, the formation of rust and mold is also undesirable.

On the other hand, the punches of tablet presses have high processing accuracy and are made of materials that easily deform and rust. Therefore, when cleaning the punches of a tablet press, it is necessary to remove both powder and lubricating oil, to prevent rust, and to prevent the punches from colliding with each other. There are pharmaceutical requirements such as the cleaning method. For this reason, cleaning liquids have been limited to white kerosene, alcohol-based or chlorine-based volatile organic solvents, and liquid synthetic detergents.

In addition, the only cleaning methods that can be adopted using these cleaning solutions include the tankside cleaning method and the closed can method. Since the above-mentioned cleaning method has been adopted, the following problems have arisen. That is, the degree of cleaning is not necessarily sufficient considering the residual cleaning liquid. It is difficult to automate this process because manual finishing cleaning or wiping work remains. Scattering and volatilization of the solvent, which is unfavorable from a health and safety perspective, is observed during cleaning and drying. Solvent disposal is not easy.
These are various points. In general, washing and drying operations can be divided into three operations: prewashing, final washing, and drying, and it goes without saying that the selection of cleaning liquid at this time brings about a major change in these operations. From the viewpoint of economy, safety and hygiene, and treatment, water is considered to be the preferred cleaning liquid.
Water at room temperature and pressure has poor cleaning properties and causes rust, which is a fatal drawback for use as a cleaning solution for pestles.

(Means for Solving the Problems) This invention cleans the pestle using only water as a cleaning liquid, and in the manufacture of pharmaceuticals, it is possible to comply with laws and regulations such as the "Manufacturing Control and Quality Control Regulations for Pharmaceuticals" (Ordinance No. 31 of the Ministry of Health and Welfare). This device was developed for the purpose of automatically washing and drying while aiming to achieve a cleaning level that complies with applicable regulations. (a) A conveyor 15, at least a part of which is reversible, is provided for transferring the punch set box 1 containing a plurality of tablet punches to be cleaned to the cleaning section and discharging it after cleaning; ) The conveyor 15 includes a conveyor 15 during pestle cleaning.
(c) connecting a motor 8 for swinging the punch set box 1 placed on the reversing and reciprocating conveyor by reciprocating at least a part of the reversing conveyor; In order to store the punches while holding them upright without contacting each other, there is a net B for supporting a plurality of tablet punches at the bottom, and a net A for supporting the upper part of each punch above. (d) Above the swinging punch set box 1, a hot water nozzle row 3 and a steam nozzle row 4 are arranged for spraying the supplied pressurized hot water and pressure steam evenly and sequentially to each of the punches. It is characterized by completely automatic cleaning using only water as the cleaning liquid, and drying naturally by simply leaving the pestle heated by the pressure steam during cleaning without providing any drying means. Automatic cleaning and drying device for tablet press punches. ”.

The apparatus of the invention is used in a controlled manner, such as conveyor reversal, pressurized hot water supply, pressurized steam supply, etc.

(Function) In a mode of using the apparatus of the present invention, immediately after pre-washing is performed by spraying water as pressurized hot water onto the pestle, final cleaning is performed by spraying steam, By doing this, a higher degree of cleaning was obtained than with any of the conventional methods.
In addition, the temperature of the pestle reaches nearly 90℃ at the end of cleaning due to heating with hot water and heating with steam, so leaving it indoors for about 10 minutes after cleaning is enough to prevent it from sticking to the surface of the pestle. All the water droplets will evaporate. Moreover, the temperature of the punch remains higher than room temperature for a while after the surface has dried, so if you apply a rust preventive agent during this time, you can guarantee that it will remain rust-free for a long time. No matter what cleaning method you use, applying a rust preventive agent cannot be omitted. In embodiments of the present invention, if the temperature of the hot water in pre-washing is too low, cleaning performance will deteriorate and it will take too much time to heat up the pestle in the subsequent final washing. On the other hand, if the temperature of the hot water is too high, starches commonly used in pharmaceutical tablets are likely to gelatinize, and once gelatinized and adhered to the pestle, it becomes a stain that is extremely difficult to remove. For these reasons, the temperature of hot water is 50
It is desirable that the temperature is in the range of ~60°C. An effective pressure for this hot water is about 5 to 7 kg/cm ² . Also,
A water vapor pressure of 2 to 3 kg/cm ² is sufficient. In addition to this embodiment, cleaning methods that involve only the injection of pressurized hot water or only the injection of steam are also conceivable;
In the former case, not only is the degree of cleaning low, but the surface temperature of the pestle is too low and the temperature of the pestle returns to room temperature before the water droplets on the surface of the pestle have finished drying, leading to the formation of rust. It was easy. Being able to maintain the punch temperature higher than room temperature for a while after the punch is dry 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.

According to an embodiment using the device of the invention:
The best cleaning method in terms of cleanliness and rust prevention is the two-step cleaning method: injection of pressurized hot water at a pressure of 5 to 7 kg/cm ² and a temperature of 50 to 60°C, and injection of steam at a pressure of 2 to 3 kg/cm ² . We are getting favorable results. Also, when cleaning not just one punch but a group of punches, in order to obtain an even degree of cleaning for each punch, various combinations of the number of hot water and steam injection nozzles, apertures, injection patterns, and times are necessary. However, the effect was weak, and it was preferable to use a device in which the punch set box itself repeatedly oscillates under the injection nozzle.

Embodiment An embodiment of the device of this invention will be described with drawings.
FIG. 1a is a perspective view of a punch set box 1. The punch set box 1 has a net A for supporting the punches at the top and a net B for supporting the punches at the bottom. FIG. 1b shows the arrangement of networks A and B. FIG. 2 shows one of the pestles 2, with the contaminated part facing up, put into each stitch of the net A and placed on the net B. Figure 3 is 40 to 60
The figure shows two punches about the size of a book, with the contaminated part facing up, placed one on each mesh of the mesh A, placed on the mesh B, and stored in the set box 1.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of the entire apparatus for carrying out the method of the present invention, in which rollers 15 are arranged on a pedestal 17, and a cleaning chamber 11 is provided in the center. The chamber 11 has an entrance door 5 and an exit door 6
have. 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 3 and the steam row 4.

As shown in Fig. 3, the pestle 2 to be cleaned is
The housed punch set box 1 supported by B is put into the cleaning chamber 11 through the entrance door 5, which is moved from the left side to the right side in FIG. 4 by pushing on the roller 15, and the door 5 is closed. When the box 1 passes the limit switch LSW ₁ on the left side in the chamber 11, the motor 8 for driving the roller conveyor first drives the belt 14 on the rollers in the direction of the arrow 1, so that the roller conveyor 13 moves to the right side in the figure. is driven in the direction of
At the same time, the hot water pump drive motor 10 is started by a signal from the limit switch LSW ₁ , and the pump 9 sends hot water from the hot water tank 7 to the hot water nozzle 3 through the piping 16. Pressure 5~7Kg/from hot water nozzle 3
cm ² of pressurized hot water at a temperature of 50-60° C. is sprayed onto the box 1, ie onto the pestle 2. Box 1 by roller conveyor 13
moves to the right, and the limit switch LSW ₂ on the right
When reaching , the roller conveyor drive motor 8 changes its rotation direction, drives the belt 14 in the direction of arrow 2, drives the roller conveyor 13 in the direction of arrow 2, that is, to the left in the figure, and moves the box 1 to the left. move it to
When box 1 reaches limit switch LSW ₁ , the direction of rotation of motor 8 is again reversed, moving box 1 to the right. In this way, the predetermined time T (=t ₁
+t ₂ ), box 1 is connected to limit switch LSW ₁ .
The hot water injection in _{the first half t 1 and} the steam injection in the second half t ₂ hit each pestle equally. The drainage water is received by a drainage receiver 12 under the pedestal and guided outward through a pipe 19. Steam is introduced from the outside through piping 18. The pressure of water vapor is 2 to 3 kg/cm ² . The hot water and steam injection times t ₁ and t ₂ are determined in advance based on the degree of contamination and the like.

When the predetermined time T (=t ₁ +t ₂ ) ends, the reversal repetition sequence for rocking also ends. Similarly, the motor 8 starts rotating in the direction of the arrow 1 in order to eject the punch set box 1 from the chamber. 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 and the box 1 comes out of the cleaning chamber 11 and reaches the position 1' in the figure.

Just by leaving Box 1 in that location, all the water droplets attached 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 no rust was observed even after being stored for a long time.

(Effects) The device of this invention is as described above, and has special effects by using only water as a cleaning agent and supplying pressurized hot water and pressure steam from above while swinging the punch set box on the conveyor. This device is a simple method that does not require drying means, and provides a higher degree of cleaning than any of the conventional cleaning methods.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figure 1a is a perspective view of the punch set box, Figure 1b is an explanatory diagram of the arrangement of nets A and B, Figure 2 is a diagram of the relationship between values and nets, and Figure 3 is a view of the punches 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 the symbols, 1... Pestle set box, 2... Pestle, 3
... Hot water nozzle row, 4 ... Steam nozzle row, 5 ...
Entrance door, 6...Exit door, 7...Hot water tank, 8...Motor, 9...Hot water pump, 10...Motor,
11...Cleaning chamber, 12...Drainage receiver, 1
3... Roller conveyor, 14... Roller conveyor drive belt, 15... Roller, 16... Piping, 17...
... Frame, 18, 19... Piping.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. In a tabletting machine punch cleaning and drying device for cleaning and drying a plurality of tableting machine punches, (a) a punch set box 1 containing a plurality of tableting machine punches to be cleaned is placed in a washing section; A conveyor 15, at least a part of which is reversible, is provided for transporting, cleaning and discharging the pestles;
(c) connecting a motor 8 for swinging the punch set box 1 placed on the reversing and reciprocating conveyor by reciprocating at least a part of the reversing conveyor; In order to store the punches while holding them upright without contacting each other, there is a net B for supporting a plurality of tablet punches at the bottom, and a net A for supporting the upper part of each punch above. (d) Above the swinging punch set box 1, a hot water nozzle row 3 and a steam nozzle row 4 are arranged for spraying the supplied pressurized hot water and pressure steam evenly and sequentially to each of the punches. It is characterized by completely automatic cleaning using only water as the cleaning liquid, and drying naturally by simply leaving the pestle heated by the pressure steam during cleaning without providing any drying means. Automatic cleaning and drying device for tablet press punches. 2. As the first stage of cleaning, apply a pressure of 5 to 7 kg/cm ² ,
Preliminary cleaning and warming of the pestle are carried out by spraying pressurized hot water at a temperature of 50 to 60℃, followed by a pressure of 2
The automatic cleaning and drying device for tablet press punches according to claim 1, which is controlled to perform final cleaning and heating of the punches by injecting water vapor of ~3 Kg/cm ² .