PRODUCTION DEVICE, IN PARTICULAR FOR THE PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY

Abstract

A production device including an isolator housing to receive functional components of the production device and products in an interior of the production device and to hermetically seal the components from the surroundings. The production device includes at least one robot received in the isolator housing, wherein the robot is one or more of operable to carry out specific tasks or operable to be remotely controllable by means of a remote controller. The production device includes at least one linear movement unit received in the isolator housing and configured to move the at least one robot long a linear movement axis. The production device includes at least one control unit to control one or more of a movement or an operation of the at least one robot.

Claims

1. A production device comprising: an isolator housing to receive functional components of the production device and products in an interior of the production device and to hermetically seal the components from the surroundings; at least one robot received in the isolator housing, wherein the robot is operable to carry out specific tasks; at least one linear movement unit received in the isolator housing and configured to move the at least one robot along a linear movement axis; and at least one control unit to control one or more of a movement or an operation of the at least one robot.

2. The production device of claim 1, further comprising a circulation device designed to cause air to circulate within the isolator housing.

3. The production device of claim 1, further comprising a pressure regulating device designed to adjust an internal pressure within the isolator housing with respect to an ambient pressure.

4. The production device of claim 1, wherein at least one of the at least one linear movement unit comprises at least one rail extending along the linear movement axis.

5. The production device of claim 1, wherein the at least one robot is configured to perform one or more of (a) changing Petri dishes, (b) installing filling needles, (c) carrying out cleaning processes, (d) picking up and setting down products, (d) diagnose diagnosing errors, or (e) correcting the errors.

6. The production device of claim 1, wherein the at least one robot comprises one or more of a camera or at least one sensor unit, wherein data generated by at least one of the camera or the sensor unit data is output to one or more of a display device or a control device .

7. The production device of claim 1, further comprising a transport device configured to transport products to be processed in the isolator housing.

8. The production device of claim 1, wherein the functional components include a filling machine for filling products.

9. The production device of claim 1, wherein the isolator housing comprises an access lock through which products can be introduced into the interior of the production device.

10. The production device of claim 2, wherein the circulation device comprises a filter unit.

11. The production device of claim 7, wherein the transport device is arranged above the at least one linear movement unit.

12. The production device of claim 1, wherein the isolator housing comprises an access lock through which tools can be introduced into the interior of the production device.

13. The production device of claim 1, wherein the at least one robot comprises one or more of a camera or a sensor unit, wherein data generated by at least one of the camera or the sensor unit is used for autonomous activities of the robot.

14. The production device of claim 1, wherein the robot is remotely controllable by means of a remote controller;

Description

[0020] FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a first embodiment of an inventive production device; and

[0021] FIG. 2 a schematic view of a second embodiment of an inventive production device.

[0022] FIG. 1 initially shows a schematic view of an inventive production device which is designated quite generally with the reference numeral 10. The production device 10 comprises an isolator housing 12 which has an interior 14 and hermetically seals the latter against the surroundings of the production device 10, wherein one or more access locks (not shown in FIG. 1), through which products and/or tools can be introduced into the interior 14, can be provided.

[0023] Received in the interior 14 of the isolator housing 12 are functional components of the production device 10, in this case a schematically illustrated filling machine 16 for filling containers in the pharmaceutical industry, wherein in this case the containers correspond to the products to be processed within the meaning of the present application.

[0024] Furthermore, a robot 18, which can be moved along a linear movement axis L by means of a linear movement unit 20, is disposed within the interior 14 of the isolator housing 12. Here, in the view from FIG. 1, the linear movement axis L runs vertically, so that the robot 18 can also be moved vertically. Although the robot 18 in FIG. 1 is shown as a typical 6-axis robot, as it is often used in the processing industry, other types of robots could also be used in the device 10 from FIG. 1, of course.

[0025] Finally, a series of arrows in FIG. 1 indicates air circulation that can be caused, for example, by a circulation device provided in plenum 22 (not shown in FIG. 1), wherein the circulation device can further optionally comprise at least one filter unit.

[0026] In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the linear movement unit 20 is embodied in the form of a rail system on which the robot 18 can be moved, so that the linear movement axis L acts as the seventh axis, so to speak, of the 6-axis robot. The robot 18 can therefore take on different tasks within the interior 14 of the isolator housing 12, which tasks will be discussed further below in connection with different functional components, wherein in particular in FIG. 1 and in the context of the filling machine 16 shown there it is possible for the robot 18 to introduce containers to be filled into the filling machine 16 and remove said containers therefrom, wherein the containers are first loaded into the interior 14 of the isolator housing 12 through the above-mentioned access lock (not shown).

[0027] A second embodiment of an inventive production device is now shown in FIG. 2 and denoted with the reference symbol 100, wherein components similar to those from FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference symbols, but increased by 100. In particular, the production device 100 from FIG. 2 also comprises an isolator housing 112 having an interior 114 in which a filling machine 116 is provided, said filling machine itself acting as a functional component of the production device 100.

[0028] In contrast to the production device 10 from FIG. 1, however, the production device 100 from FIG. 2 comprises two robots 118a and 118b which are designed analogously to the robot 18 from FIG. 1 but are assigned to two different linear movement units 120a and 120b, the linear movement axes L1 and L2 of which also run horizontally and not vertically. The two robots 118a and 118b can thus be operated independently of one another or in a manner coordinated with one another and can be moved linearly along the two axes L1 and L2.

[0029] Both in the embodiment from FIG. 1 and in the embodiment from FIG. 2, at least the robots 18 or 118a and 118b are assigned a control unit (not shown here) which can control the operation of the corresponding robot, on the one hand, and also possibly its movement by the linear movement unit, on the other hand, wherein this linear movement unit could alternatively also be assigned its own control unit which could accordingly be operatively coupled to the control unit of the corresponding robot.

[0030] Furthermore, it is possible to couple the control units of the robots and/or linear movement units to the control units for higher-level processes, such as, e.g., to couple the operation of the corresponding functional components, i.e. the filling machines 18 or 118, or to provide a higher-level control unit for all of the components just mentioned in order to be able to assure coordinated and smooth operation of all of the aforesaid components.

[0031] It has been shown that providing the robots 18 and 118a, 118b and the associated linear movement units 20 or 120a, 120b makes it possible to do without providing glove openings in the corresponding isolator housings 12 and 112, so that the advantages of the present invention discussed above are achieved. In the following, a few examples are cited of tasks that can be carried out in inventive devices using the interaction of provided robots with the linear movement units assigned to them.

[0032] In one arrangement for an “aseptic assembly,” an access lock can be opened automatically/manually from the outside and the corresponding needles with hose can be introduced as the product to be processed using a transfer container or a beta bag. The corresponding robot can pick up the needles with hose and install them in a needle holder. An associated peristaltic pump or a time/pressure metering device can be attached outside the isolator housing. In very general terms, it is understood that essentially any filling systems can be used in variants of this embodiment in the context of the inventive device and that any division between components arranged inside and outside the isolator housing can be provided within the framework of general considerations when optimising the device.

[0033] For automated changing of Petri dishes as microbe collectors, an access lock can also be opened automatically or manually from the outside and the Petri dishes can in turn be introduced using a transfer container or beta bag. The provided robot can then pick them up and install them in a positioned manner in a Petri dish silo. During operation, the robot thus moves along its linear movement axis to different positions and changes the Petri dishes, which change in some embodiments can be controlled manually or, for example, after a certain time as part of a preset program. In this context, since the robot is moved only very slowly, it is possible to prevent air within the isolator housing from being swirled too much, which could distort the results of the sequence to be carried out.

[0034] Another use for the linearly movable robot could be the manually controlled or automatic detection and, if necessary, elimination, of faults in components within the isolator housing; for example, using a camera attached to it, the robot could detect individual components within the isolator housing and could be moved using a manual remote controller into a suitable position for recording further detailed camera images or for manipulating, for example repairing, the specific component directly using suitable tools. In one alternative embodiment, the corresponding robot could also act proactively or independently and, if necessary, carry out the described steps automatically without remote control, for example based on the principles of machine learning.

[0035] Such a robot could also be used for washing or disinfection processes in that it picks up washing guns disposed in the isolator housing and runs a programmed cycle in which, for example, water or CO.sub.2 snow is sprayed onto components to be cleaned within the isolator housing. In this case, again, it is possible for an operator to use a remote controller for manual control, or for a specific cleaning program to be run automatically. Furthermore, such cleaning can be additionally supported as required by permanently installed washing nozzles and the positions of machine stops can be kept in the control unit of the robot and the cleaning time can be extended at specific points. It could also be possible to have the corresponding robot dismantle individual components within the isolator housing in order to enable more efficient cleaning thereof. Furthermore, after the cleaning process has been completed, the robot can also perform a drying operation, for example in that the robot picks up a sterile blow-out gun and uses it to dry the cleaned components.

[0036] Finally, the robot could also be used in automatic weighing processes in that the robot picks up products within the isolator housing and places them on a load cell, while in a similar manner it can also pick up products for washing processes and position them over a washing device.