JPH037388B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a powder filling system for hard capsules, and more particularly to a powder filling system for hard capsules, in particular pharmaceutical capsules usually made of gelatin and consisting of a telescoping cap/body. The invention relates to a method for supplying and filling the liquid and an apparatus for the same.

[Prior Art] It is difficult to measure and then supply and fill powder into the body of a capsule, which has been separated from the cap in advance by a related device and is in a standby position, except for fillers with exceptionally high fluidity. It is surprisingly difficult. Therefore, various methods have been proposed to overcome this difficulty.

Among them, the so-called die compress type is cited as a highly practical type. In this method, the powder layered on the surface of the metering disk is drawn into a metering cavity provided in the metering disk by its own weight, and a pushing plunger having an outer diameter that matches the inner diameter of the metering cavity is moved up and down to compress the powder into pieces. Then, by the downward movement of the delivery plunger, it is dropped from the metering cavity into the body of the capsule waiting directly below it.

A device according to this operating principle is, for example,
No. 46816. The disclosed device focuses on preventing the powder from scattering, and the entire metering disk is made into a single closed space. However, the setting amount of powder to be filled is adjusted by controlling the pressing force of a spring mounted on a push-in plunger. dependent. In other words, the obtained compressed pieces with a constant volume are made by compacting the powder to the closest density, thereby making the specific gravity constant, and as a result, maintaining the quantitative nature of the set filling amount.

However, if there is a difference in apparent specific gravity between raw material lots, a difference in space content will result in the resulting compressed pieces, making it difficult to maintain quantitative accuracy of the actual filling amount by controlling the pressing force of the spring. Also,
Since it is assumed that the volume of the compressed piece is constant, it is necessary to prepare and replace the number of measuring disks according to the type of set filling amount even for capsules of the same diameter, but the measuring disks are It is heavy and replacement work is not easy. Furthermore, although making the entire metering disk a single closed space is effective in preventing powder from scattering, the powder layer is affected by the centrifugal force that accompanies the rotation of the metering disk and becomes thicker toward the periphery. If the powder is a composition, its segregation is inevitable.
Therefore, the metering disc cannot be provided with multiple rows of metering cavities, which limits the filling capacity.

On the other hand, in JP-A No. 50-89188, there is also a die.
A compress type powder filling device is disclosed.
This ensures that all operations of capsule orientation, body/cap separation, filling, recombination and ejection, as well as compressed piece formation and delivery, occur within a single device and around a common axis. It is configured,
The separated body moves horizontally in the radial direction and assumes a filling standby attitude.

Here, the set filling amount is adjusted by once drawing the filling into the cavity and pushing it up in its powder state, and wiping off the powder that overflows onto the surface of the metering disk. In this respect, the disclosed device directly follows the concept of quantitative feeding in a tablet machine. However, this corresponds to measuring powder with no specific gravity control at all based on cavity volume alone, and it is difficult to maintain quantitativeness of the actual filling amount.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] As explained in the above [Prior Art], in the die-compress powder filling method, it is difficult to adjust and switch the set filling amount (replacement of the metering disk). However, it cannot be said that the quantitative nature of the actual filling amount is sufficiently maintained. Furthermore, it is not easy to adjust the volume of the compressed pieces based on the difference in apparent specific gravity of the raw material powder, and it is particularly difficult to adjust the volume during operation. Furthermore, when the filler is a composition, segregation is inevitable, making it difficult to design a high-speed, high-capacity device.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to overcome the drawbacks of the prior art described above, according to a first aspect of the present invention, the powder filling is tamped and compressed in a metering cavity provided in a metering disk. This is a die-compress filling method in which the compressed piece held in the metering cavity is pushed up from below and the upper part is placed in the metering disc. A method for filling powder into a hard capsule, characterized in that the exposed portion of the compressed piece on the surface of the metering disk is removed by a scraping means in contact with the surface of the metering disk. provided.

According to other aspects of the invention, there is provided a metering disk that rotates intermittently about a vertical axis, including periods of rest at multiple compression, metering, and delivery stations; a plurality of metering cavity groups respectively corresponding to the plurality of stations drilled in the compression station; A push-in plunger that can be freely inserted into the metering cavity moves up and down to compact the powder charge in the cavity into a compressed piece, and at a delivery station, the delivery plunger descends to place the compressed piece in the metering cavity directly below. In a die-compress type filling device that drops the capsule body into a waiting capsule body and transfers it to related equipment, each of the plurality of compression stations and metering stations is configured with the surface of the metering disk as a bottom. It is covered by an immovable closed container in which effective stirring means for the powder charge layered on the surface of the metering disk are provided, and the initial stage and metering in the compression station are Said metering cavities during their stay in the station are provided with an auxiliary plunger of an outer diameter matching the inner diameter of each of said dosing cavities.
A vertical motion control mechanism attached below the corresponding metering disk allows the metering disk to be freely inserted from below through the bottom opening of the cavity, and the metering disk is inserted into the metering station while the metering disk stays in the metering station. For a hard capsule, characterized in that a scraping means is provided for removing compressed pieces of filler powder exposed on the surface of the metering disk from the upper opening of each of the metering cavities along the surface of the metering disk. A powder filling device is provided.

Here, each of the plurality of compression stations and metering stations is covered with an immovable closed container configured with the surface of the metering disk as a bottom, and the metering disk is placed in the closed container. It is preferable to provide an effective stirring means for the powder layered on the surface of the powder in order to prevent scattering of the powder and to avoid segregation when the powder is a composition.

a closed side wall having a skirt that has a bottom on the surface of the metering disk and is in contact with the surface while allowing rotation of the metering disk; the push-in plunger, the charge supply pipe, the stirrer shaft and the level sensor; and a lid body provided with a through hole for receiving at least one of the above.

The pushing plungers are arranged in the full compression station and are operated in groups by an arbitrary drive mechanism provided above the closed container.

In addition, the filling material supply pipe may be any type that communicates the hopper provided at the center of the top of the entire apparatus with the closed container of each compression station, but a screw feeder whose transfer capacity can be easily adjusted is used to feed the filling powder layer. This is preferable from the viewpoint of level control.

It is convenient in design that the closed container is usually a hollow cylinder centered on the stirrer shaft. The stirring means is a stirring blade attached to the tip of the stirrer shaft and rotating in a direction opposite to the metering disk in close proximity to the surface of the metering disk, and the stirring blade is a cylinder defined by the closed side wall. It is preferable that it has a size that fits within the inside. Needless to say, the rotation of the agitator shaft is controlled in synchronization with the vertical movement of the push plunger group (for example, by using a gear train driven by the same drive source), and the structure is configured to avoid collision between the two. stomach.

Further, limited to the first stage of the compression station and the metering station, a group of auxiliary plungers and a vertical movement control device thereof are provided below the metering disk to correspond to the metering cavity group and have a shape and size compatible with the metering cavity group. ing. The group of auxiliary plungers in the first stage of the compression station has the function of initially rising until it almost occupies the volume of the metering cavity, and then sucking the filler powder layered on the surface of the metering disk into the metering cavity as it descends. ing. The auxiliary plunger group of the metering station has the function of pushing up the compression piece held in the metering cavity from below, and the top of the compression piece pushed up by the auxiliary plunger group is always above the surface of the metering disk. Since this area is exposed, metering is carried out by scraping away this area.

The closed side wall skirt of the closed container at the metering station can be used as a means for scraping off the excess filling.

Further, between the metering station and the first stage of the compression station, there are provided guide means for transferring the filling powder on the metering disk bypassing the transfer station.

This transfer guide is an arc-shaped sealed tunnel that passes through the opposing closed side walls of the closed containers of the metering station and the first stage of the compression station, covers the inner part of the delivery station on the surface of the metering disk, and communicates the two closed containers. It is preferable that In addition, any means can be used to suck up the powder on the surface of the metering disk from the closed container of the metering station and supply it to the closed container at the first stage of the compression station.

[Operation] The operating principle of the present invention will be explained based on the basic configuration shown in FIG. 1 in the order of operations moving toward the right in the drawing.

The powder filling 12 layered on the surface of the metering disk 10 rises until it almost occupies the volume of the metering cavity 14 at a position a corresponding to the compression station, and then is moved down by the auxiliary plunger 16.
is drawn into the metering cavity 14 and fills it. Thereafter, the auxiliary plunger 16 remains in a position sufficient to close the opening 142 in the lower end of the metering cavity 14, and the pusher plunger 20
While the powder 12 in the metering cavity 14 is compacted by the up-and-down movement of the group, the powder being compacted is prevented from escaping through the bottom opening 142. The powder 12 in the metering cavity 14 is now
The compressed piece 22 is formed to such an extent that it is supported by the side wall of the metering cavity 14 and does not fall even when the portion 42 is opened. Therefore, the auxiliary plunger 16
is further lowered to a position that does not impede subsequent intermittent rotation of the metering disc 10.

After the compaction station (positions corresponding to b and c), the compacted piece 22 is also subjected to repeated up and down movements of the group of force plungers 20 and is compacted under constant pressure with the powder added at each compaction station. However, from the second stage onwards, the immovable supplementary plate 24 that is in contact with the lower surface of the metering disk closes the bottom opening 142, and the compression piece 2
The auxiliary plunger 16 is not installed, since the material 2 is sufficient to withstand additional tamping. The complementary plate 24 is provided so as to complement the plunger guide 17 of the auxiliary plunger 16 on substantially the same plane as the plunger guide 17.

At position d, which corresponds to the metering station, the auxiliary plunger 16 pushes up the compression piece 22 in the metering cavity 14 from below, exposing its top from the surface of the metering disk 10. Since the upward movement of the auxiliary plunger 16 is controlled so that this exposed portion corresponds to the surplus powder filling amount that always exceeds the set filling amount, the exposed portion on the surface of the metering disk is removed by the scraping means. be done.

Thereafter, at a position e corresponding to the delivery station, the delivery plunger 26 descends from above and pushes the compression piece 22 in the metering cavity 14 from above to separate it from the metering cavity 14. Immediately below the cavity 14 is any capsule separation/recombination processing device that operates in conjunction, such as the device 90 disclosed by the present applicant in Japanese Patent Application No. 60-55480.
The capsule separated from the cap 18 by
Since the body 28 is on standby, the detached compressed piece 22 is dropped into the body 28 and accommodated therein.

[Example] As can be seen from the partially cutaway side view of the device implementing the present invention in FIG. 2 and the partially cutaway plan view in FIG.
This device has a shaft 102 of a metering disk 10 that rotates intermittently.
It includes a plurality of stations arranged around a central column 100 that supports a plurality of stations, each having a distinct role. The embodiment is comprised of five stations, each of which can process 50 powder batches 12 or compressed pieces 22.

What is shown at the right end of the metering disk 10 in FIG. ing. For ease of illustration and understanding, FIG. 2 assumes that the compression station a is at the left end of the metering disk 10, and omits redundant parts, so the positions of each station in FIG. are not accurately matched.

Among the five stations, the main part of each station except the delivery station e is the measuring disk 1.
An immovable cylindrical closed container (dispensing or metering hopper) 30a (b, c
or covered by d).

Each hopper has a closed side wall 34d (b, c, and d) having a skirt 32a (b, c, and d) that is in contact with the surface of the metering disk 10 (with a clearance of approximately 0.1 mm) while allowing rotation thereof. )and,
It is composed of a lid body 36a (b, c and d) adapted to the closed side wall. The skirt 32d of the metering station d serves as said scraping means.

A through hole is provided in the center of each lid body to receive the stirrer shaft 46a (b, c, and d). The hopper lids 36a (b and c) of each compression station a, b, and c include a group of through holes for receiving a group of push plungers (50 plungers in the example) 20, and a filling powder supply pipe 50a (b and c). c)
A through hole is provided to receive the level sensor 72a (b and c) and a through hole is provided to receive the level sensor 72a (b and c).

The central column 100 supports a plate-shaped upper transmission box 80 from below.
Further above the box 80 is a master hopper 60 and a powder feed motor 54a (b and c).
is installed.

Inside the transmission box 80 is equipped a gear train with gears 82, 84, 86 and 88, which connects the metering disk 10 and each agitator shaft 46a (b, c and d) (rotating in opposite directions). ) controls the synchronous rotation of the Furthermore, a stirring blade 48a (b, c, and d) is attached to the lower end of each stirrer shaft 46a (b, c, and d), respectively.

A feed screw 56a (b and c) is provided in each filler supply pipe 50a (b and c), and each screw is driven by a powder feed motor 54a (b and c) through a gear. Ru. The starting and stopping of each powder supply motor is individually controlled by signals from level sensors 72a (b and c).

Each filler supply pipe 50a (b and c) branches diagonally upward from the middle to form a branch portion 52a (b and c), and the upper end of each filler supply pipe 50a (b and c) is connected to a master hopper 60. There is an opening 64a (b and c) provided in the bottom plate 62 at the connection portion between the two.

The openings 64a (b and c) are connected to an annular shutter plate 66 superimposed on the bottom plate 62.
It is said that it can be opened and closed freely. That is, by operating the shutter lever 68 that passes through the transmission box 80 and hangs down, the through hole 70 provided in the shutter plate 66 is opened.
a (b and c) and the opening 64a (b and c)
Adjust the amount of overlap between the door and the door to any position from fully open to fully closed.

A stirring blade 74 that rotates around a disk shaft 102 is arranged directly above the shutter plate 66 .

Powder falling under the force of gravity inside the master hopper 60 is transported between a truncated inverted conical baffle 76 and a disk shaft 1 provided at the inner lower part of the side wall of the hopper 60.
Due to the presence of a conical cap 78 covering the top of the shutter blade 66, it is first subjected to centripetal and then centrifugal action and is brought onto the shutter blade 66, but the movement of the blade 74 It is guided to the branch supply pipe 52a (b and c) without any trouble.

Drive control means 202a for the push plunger 20 group are provided in the upper and lower immovable parts of the metering disk 10.
(b, c and d) and drive control means 162a (and d) for the group of auxiliary plungers 16 are provided. Note that the latter (162a and 162
d) is attached only to the first stage a of the compression station and the metering station d.

As mentioned above, in the metering station d, the excess portion of the compression piece 22 exposed on the metering disk surface is always scraped off, and this portion accumulates in the metering hopper 30d as powder or slag.
This is collected and made into new compressed pieces 22 together with fresh powder in the distribution hopper 30a.

For this purpose, transport means are provided between the metering hopper 30d and the distribution hopper 30a, which bypass the transfer station e. In this embodiment, a metering hopper 30d and a dispensing hopper 3
A tunnel-shaped fan-shaped lid 38 provided to communicate with the metering disk 10 constitutes this transfer means. That is, when the stirring blade 48d rotating within the metering hopper 30d brings powder to the inlet of the fan-shaped lid 38, the powder originally placed on the metering disk 10 is transferred along the fan-shaped lid 38 and enters the distribution hopper 30a. brought to you.

On the other hand, at the delivery station e, the compression pieces 22 in the metering cavity group 14 are moved to the capsules waiting directly below the metering cavity group 14 by the downward movement of the delivery plunger group 26 by the same drive device 262. It is dropped into the body 28 and accommodated. The capsule body 28 that has been delivered by the compressed piece 22 is subjected to processing such as recombination with the cap 18 by any known method.

[Effects] According to the method and device proposed by the present invention, the metering method is a scraping method of the compressed piece once formed, instead of adjusting the pressurizing force. It is easy to adjust and switch the set filling amount, which was difficult to do, and the quantitative nature of the actual filling amount is maintained sufficiently. Further, the compression piece performance can be easily adjusted based on the difference in the apparent specific gravity of the raw material powder, not only during stoppage but also during operation.

Furthermore, each distribution hopper and metering hopper are made independent so that sufficient stirring can be carried out within them.
Even if the filling is a composition, segregation is unlikely to occur;
This has the industrial effect that high-speed, high-capacity equipment can be easily designed.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of the basic operating principle of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway side view of an apparatus for implementing the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a partially cutaway plan view of the apparatus for implementing the present invention. 10... Measuring disk, 12... Powder filling, 14
...Measuring cavity, 16...Auxiliary cavity,
18... Capsule body, 20... Push plunger, 22... Compression piece, 24... Complementary board, 2
6... Delivery plunger, 28... Capsule.
Body, 30a (b, c/d)...dispensing/metering hopper.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A die-compress filling method in which the powder filling is tamped into compressed pieces in a metering cavity provided in a metering disk, and then dropped into a capsule body. Then, the compressed piece held in the metering cavity is pushed up from below to expose its upper part on the surface of the metering disk, and the compressed piece is A method for filling powder into hard capsules, characterized in that exposed parts on the surface of the dosing disc are eliminated. 2. A metering disk that rotates intermittently around a vertical axis, including a certain length of rest at multiple stations for compression, metering, and delivery, and a plurality of stations drilled in the metering disk. and a plurality of corresponding metering cavity groups,
During the downtime, in the compression station, a pusher plunger, which can be fit into the metering cavity and has an outer diameter that matches the inner diameter of the metering cavity, moves up and down to compact the powder charge within the cavity. Die-compress type filling in which the compressed pieces are transferred to the related equipment, and at the delivery station, the delivery plunger descends to drop the compressed pieces in the metering cavity into the capsule body that is waiting directly below, and then delivers it to the related equipment. In the device, each of the plurality of compression stations and the metering station is covered by an immovable closed container configured with the surface of the metering disk as a bottom, and the metering disk is contained in the closed container. Effective stirring means for the powder charge stratified on the surface are provided, and the groups of dosing cavities between the first stage in the compression station and the stay in the metering station have an outer diameter matching the inner diameter of each of them. An auxiliary plunger is configured such that it can be freely inserted from below through the bottom opening of the cavity by a vertical movement control mechanism attached below the corresponding metering disk, and the metering station is provided with an auxiliary plunger. Scraping means are provided for removing compressed pieces of filler powder exposed on the surface of the metering disk from the upper opening of each of the metering cavities during the stay in the metering disk. Powder filling equipment for hard capsules. 3. The closed container has a closed side wall having the surface of the metering disk as a bottom and a skirt in contact with the surface while allowing rotation of the metering disk, the pushing plunger, the filling supply pipe, 3. The powder filling device for hard capsules according to claim 2, comprising a stirrer shaft and a lid having a through hole for receiving at least one of the level sensors. 4. The airtight container is a hollow cylinder centered on the stirrer shaft, and the stirring means is attached to the tip of the stirrer shaft, close to the surface of the metering disk in a direction opposite to the metering disk. A hard capsule according to claim 2 or 3, characterized in that the stirring blade rotates, and the stirring blade has a size that fits within the cylinder defined by the closed side wall. Powder filling equipment. 5. Hard capsule according to claim 2, 3 or 4, characterized in that the closed side wall skirt of the closed container in the metering station serves as means for scraping off the compressed filler powder. powder filling equipment. 6. A guide means is provided between the metering station and the first stage of the compression station to transport the filling powder on the metering disk bypassing the transfer station. A powder filling device for hard capsules according to the scope 2, 3, 4, or 5. 7. The guide means has an arcuate shape that passes through the opposing closed side walls of both the closed containers of the metering station and the first stage of the compression station, covers the inner portion of the delivery station on the surface of the metering disk, and communicates the both closed containers. 7. The powder filling device for hard capsules according to claim 6, wherein the device is a closed tunnel.