METHOD FOR THE AUTOMATED PRODUCTION OF INDIVIDUALIZED TABLETS, AND TABLET PRESS FOR THE AUTOMATED PRODUCTION OF INDIVIDUALIZED TABLETS
20230042678 ยท 2023-02-09
Assignee
Inventors
Cpc classification
B30B11/08
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
B30B11/02
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
B30B15/302
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
International classification
B30B11/08
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
Abstract
A method for producing tablets with an active substance including inputting a target number of tablets to produce and a target mass indicating the quantity of active substance per tablet, transmitting the target number and target mass to a controller configured to control a dosing device, a weighing device, extendable upper and lower punches, filling a quantity of the active substance from a container into an opening of a die. While filling, a pressure face of the lower punch closes the opening, and the amount of the active substance is measured by the weighing device on which the lower punch and the die are placed while filling. The method further including pressing the active substance, releasing a pressed tablet from the die, and repeating the repeating the process until the target number is reached.
Claims
1. A method for automatically producing a number of individualized tablets with a first quantity of a first active substance by a tablet press, the method comprising: inputting a target number which indicates the number of tablets to be produced and a first target mass which indicates the quantity of the first active substance per tablet, transmitting the target number and the first target mass to a controller of the tablet press, wherein the controller is configured to control a first dosing device, a weighing device, an extendable upper punch, and an extendable lower punch, filling a quantity of the first active substance which corresponds to the first target mass from a first material container into a central opening of a die by the first dosing device, wherein while filling, a pressure face of the lower punch closes the central opening on one side, and the amount of the first active substance filled into the central opening is measured by the weighing device on which the lower punch and the die are placed while filling, pressing the first active substance by extending a pressure face of the upper punch into the central opening, releasing a pressed tablet from the die by extending the pressure face of the lower punch into the central opening, and repeating the filling of the quantity of the first active substance, pressing of the first active substance, and releasing of the pressed tablet until a number of pressed tablets corresponds to the target number.
2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the outer circumference of the pressure face of the upper punch for pressing the first active substance is adapted to the inner circumference of the die in that a number of vertically telescoping upper punch shafts of the upper punch arranged inside each other are extended downwards, wherein the outer circumference of the outer extended upper punch shaft corresponds to the inner circumference of the die.
3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the outer circumference of the pressure face of the lower punch is adapted to the inner circumference of the die before the filling of the quantity of the first active substance in that a number of vertically telescoping lower punch shafts of the lower punch arranged inside each other are extended upwards, wherein the outer circumference of the outer extended lower punch shaft corresponds to the inner circumference of the die.
4. The method according to claim 1, wherein a mass of the first active substance filled into the central opening is measured by placing the die and the lower punch on the weighing device before filling wherein the weighing device measures the total mass acting on it while filling, which comprises the mass of the die, the mass of the lower punch, and the mass of the first active substance filled into the central opening, wherein the die and the lower punch are lifted after filling and before pressing the first active substance.
5. The method according to claim 4, wherein the die and the lower punch are placed on the weighing device before filling by at least one lifting device, and the die and the lower punch are lifted after filling and before pressing the first active substance by the at least one lifting device.
6. The method according to claim 5, wherein the pressure acting on one or more of the lower punch and the upper punch is measured at the at least one lifting device.
7. The method according to claim 6, wherein the pressure is measured by a pressure measuring device.
8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first dosing device is arranged vertically above the central opening by a positioning device before adding the quantity of the first active substance, wherein the upper punch is arranged vertically above the central opening by the positioning device after adding the quantity of the first active substance and before pressing the first active substance, wherein the first dosing device is also arranged.
9. The method according to claim 8, wherein the positioning device is a rail device that can be moved in a horizontal direction, and the first dosing device is fixed on the positioning device so as to be movable in the vertical direction.
10. The method according to claim 1, further comprising subsequent to the pressing of the first active substance and prior to the releasing of the pressed tablet: inputting a second-layer target mass and transmitting the second-layer target mass to the controller, wherein the second-layer target mass indicates a quantity of a second active substance per tablet, positioning a second dosing device of a second material container above the central opening by a positioning device, filling a second quantity of the second active substance that corresponds to a second-layer target mass into the central opening by the second dosing device, positioning the upper punch above the central opening by the positioning device, and pressing the second active substance by extending the pressure face of the upper punch into the central opening, wherein, the repeating comprises repeating the filling of the quantity of the first active substance, pressing of the first active substance, filling the second quantity of the second active substance pressing the second active substance and releasing of the pressed tablet until the number of pressed tablets corresponds to the target number.
11. A tablet press for automatically producing a specifiable number of individualized tablets with a specifiable quantity of a first active substance, the tablet press comprising: a press chamber, a first material container configured to be filled with the first active substance, a first dosing device, a controller, and an input device, wherein the press chamber has an extendable upper punch, an extendable lower punch, at least one die, and a weighing device arranged under the at least one die, by which a mass of a material filled into a central opening in the die is measurable by placing the die and the lower punch on the weighing device, the input device is configured to transmit a target number and a target mass of the individualized tablets to be produced to the controller, and the controller is configured to read out measured data from the weighing device and actuate the first dosing device, the upper punch, and the lower punch such that a quantity of the first active substance that corresponds to the target mass is filled into the central opening of the die and pressed by the upper punch and the lower punch into a tablet, and to repeat the pressing until a target number of tablets has been produced.
12. The tablet press according to claim 8, wherein the upper punch comprises at least two vertically telescoping upper punch shafts arranged inside each other, by which an outer circumference of a pressure face of the upper punch can be adapted to the inner circumference of the central opening of the at least one die by individually extending the upper punch shafts.
13. The tablet press according to claim 12, wherein the lower punch comprises at least two vertically telescoping lower punch shafts arranged inside each other, by which an outer circumference of a pressure face of the lower punch can be adapted to the inner circumference of the central opening of the at least one die by individually extending the lower punch shafts.
14. The tablet press according to claim 13, wherein the press chamber comprises a first pushing and pulling device, by which at least one upper locking pin can be pushed into a horizontal hole in side walls of the upper punch shafts to vertically fix a definable number of the upper punch shafts, wherein the press chamber comprises a second pushing and pulling device, by which at least one lower locking pin is pushed into a horizontal hole in side walls of the lower punch shafts to vertically fix a definable number of the lower punch shafts.
15. The tablet press according to claim 11, wherein the tablet press further comprises at least one lifting device that is configured to lift and lower the at least one die and the lower punch.
16. The tablet press according to claim 15, wherein the at least one lifting device is configured to lift and lower the at least one die and the lower punch in a vertical direction (120).
17. The tablet press according to claim 11, further comprising a positioning device by which the upper punch and the first dosing device can alternatingly be arranged vertically above the central opening in the die arranged above the lower punch.
18. The tablet press according to claim 17, wherein the positioning device further arranges a second dosing device of a second material container above the central opening in the die.
19. The tablet press according to claim 17, wherein the positioning device is a rail device on which the first dosing device and the upper punch are arranged and can be moved in a horizontal direction, wherein the first dosing device is movably arranged on the rail device in a vertical direction.
20. The tablet press according to claim 11, wherein the lower punch has a recess in its lower side that is configured to form-fit with an elevation on an upper side of the weighing device.
Description
[0084] The embodiments are described below, without restricting the general idea of the invention, based on exemplary embodiments in reference to the drawings, whereby we expressly refer to the drawings with regard to the disclosure of all details that are not explained in greater detail in the text. In the drawings:
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[0096] In the drawings, the same or similar elements and/or parts are, in each case, provided with the same reference numerals such that they are not introduced again in each case.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
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[0098] According to one embodiment, the press chamber 2 is configured as an exchangeable press chamber insert. For this purpose, the press chamber 2 is removably fixed in the tablet press 1. To be exchanged, the press chamber insert can be removed from the tablet press and replaced by another press chamber insert.
[0099] The control system 6 is, for example, a computer, controller, processor, circuit(s), CPU, etc. that is configured to control the tablet press 1 such that a target number of individualized tablets with a target mass of the first active substance 14 is produced automatically. The receiving chamber 3 can be closed according to an embodiment such that no dust escapes from the tablet press 1 and no contaminants enter the tablet press 1 during the production of the tablets.
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[0101] In
[0102] A lower punch 50 is arranged in the press chamber 2 such that it extends from below into the die 60. The lower punch 50 can be extended in a vertical direction. Before the first active substance 14 is filled into the die 60, the lower punch 50 is extended into the die 60 from below such that a trough for receiving the first active substance 14 is created. Alternatively, the lower punch 50 is permanently arranged in the die 60. In both cases, the lower punch 50 can be moved in a vertical direction 120 in the central opening in the die.
[0103] The die 60 and/or the lower punch 50 are arranged on a platform 70. According to one embodiment, the platform 70 is a first positioning device. Additional dies (not shown in
[0104] The platform 70 and therefore the die 60 and the lower punch 50 as well can be raised and lowered in a vertical direction 120 by a lifting device 130 that comprises a first spindle 131 and a second spindle 132. Moreover, the pressure acting on the lower punch 50 during the pressing process can be determined by a pressure measuring device (not shown) on the lifting device 130 and/or by the power consumption of the lifting device 130. A weighing device 16 is arranged below the die 60 and the lower punch 50.
[0105] An upper punch 40 surrounded and supported by an upper punch carrier 41 is also arranged in the tablet press 1. The upper punch 40 can be extended in the vertical direction by an upper piston 96.
[0106] The first dosing device 12 and the upper punch 40 are fixed to a second positioning device 80, which is a rail device in the shown embodiment.
[0107] To fill the die 60 with the first active substance 14, the second positioning device 80 is actuated by the control system 6 such that the first dosing device 12 is arranged above the lower punch 50 and the die 60, as shown in
[0108] After the die 60 is filled, the first active substance 14 is pressed. This is shown in
[0109] After pressing the tablet, both the upper punch 40 and the lower punch 50 move upwards to release the tablet from the die 60. Then, the tablet is pushed down from the lower punch 50, for example by a pushing device (not shown) of the transfer device 4, such that it falls through a channel of the transfer device 4 into the tablet container 100.
[0110] This method is repeated until the target number 35 of tablets has been produced. After that, the receiving chamber 3 can be opened and the tablet container 100 removed. The tablet container 100 is now filled with the target number 35 of individualized tablets with the target mass 36 of the first active substance 14.
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[0114] Alternatively, oval or other shapes can be provided instead of the circular shape of the central openings 60a, 61a, 62a, enabling the shape of the tablets to be adjusted.
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[0116] The second material container 20 is filled with a second active substance 24 for producing a two-layer tablet. For this purpose, e.g., after the pressing of the first active substance 14 by the second positioning device 80, the second dosing device 22 of the second material container 20 is arranged above the lower punch 50 and the central opening 60a of the die 60 arranged thereon is filled with the second active substance 24. Then, the upper punch 40 is moved above the lower punch 50 and the two-layer tablet is pressed. To produce a two-layer tablet with adjacent layers, a first corner of the die 60 is filled with the first active substance 14 by the first dosing device 12, and a second corner of the die 60 is filled with the second active substance 24 by the second dosing device, and the tablet is then pressed. As the dosing devices 12, 22 are arranged below the material containers 10, 20, the dosing devices 12, 22 would normally not be visible in
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[0123] In the shown embodiment in
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[0126] While there has been shown and described what is considered to be preferred embodiments, it will, of course, be understood that various modifications and changes in form or detail could readily be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. It is therefore intended that the invention be not limited to the exact forms described and illustrated, but should be constructed to cover all modifications that may fall within the scope of the appended claims.
LIST OF REFERENCE SIGNS
[0127] 1 Tablet press [0128] 2 Press chamber [0129] 3 Receiving chamber [0130] 4 Transfer device [0131] 6 Control system [0132] 10 First material container [0133] 12 First dosing device [0134] 14 First active substance [0135] 16 Weighing device [0136] 17 Elevation [0137] 20 Second material container [0138] 22 Second dosing device [0139] 24 Second active substance [0140] 30 Input device [0141] 31 Data display [0142] 32, 33, 34 Input means [0143] 35 Target number [0144] 36 Target mass [0145] 37 Second-layer target mass [0146] 40 Upper punch [0147] 41 Upper punch carrier [0148] 42 Pressure face [0149] 43 Outer circumference [0150] 44, 45, 46 Upper punch shafts [0151] 47 Horizontal hole [0152] 48 Upper locking pin [0153] 49 First pushing and pulling device [0154] 50 Lower punch [0155] 51 Recess [0156] 52 Pressure face [0157] 53 Outer circumference [0158] 54, 55, 56 Lower punch shafts [0159] 57 Horizontal hole [0160] 58 Lower locking pin [0161] 59 Second pushing and pulling device [0162] 60, 61, 62 Die [0163] 60a, 61a, 62a Central opening [0164] 60b, 61b, 62b Inner circumference [0165] 65 Spring [0166] 70 Platform [0167] 71 Recess [0168] 80 Second positioning device [0169] 90 Third pushing and pulling device [0170] 91 Horizontal hole [0171] 92 Coupling pin [0172] 94 Pressure measuring device [0173] 96 Upper piston [0174] 100 Tablet container [0175] 101, 102, 103 Tablet [0176] 110 Horizontal direction [0177] 120 Vertical direction [0178] 130 Lifting device [0179] 131 First spindle [0180] 132 Second spindle