Pharmaceutical processing involves a number of operations and capsule filling is one such important part of the process. This can be done either manually or by means of an automated capsule filling machine.
The capsule before sent for delivery needs to be properly processed and filled with the help of a capsule filler. The capsules are rectified, caps and bodies are separated, active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) is filled, wasted capsules are rejected, capsules are locked in place, ejaculated and then cleaned and all this done with the help of a capsule filler.
Whether you complete the filling with a new automated machine or a used capsule filler, an automated filling machine will take care of the entire filling process itself. If you run a large scale production firm, then using an automated capsule filler is a must. These machines boost production and improve the efficiency of the production process. The complete functioning of an automated capsule filling machine is detailed in this blog.
Capsule rectification
The capsules produced in a factory mostly have their caps and bodies joined and they need to be rectified before the filling process begins. For rectification, the capsules are fed into the capsule delivery plate with multiple circular channels inside to hold the capsules. The capsules are then allowed to fall on a horizontal fork that acts on the center of the capsule and then the vertical fork adjusts the direction of them. Capsule rectification is now complete and it is followed by separating the caps and bodies.
Separating capsule caps and bodies
After rectification, the capsule tray is moved to the capsule filling station and the caps and bodies of the capsule are separated by means of a vacuum divider. Once the capsule separation is done, the cap and the body are transferred to their respective stations.
Medication filling
The body of the capsule is transferred to the filling station where the active ingredients are filled in the capsule. It can be done by a number of different methods.
- Tamping filling
The powder here is compacted with the help of a tamping punch. The powders are transferred from one tamping punch to next to achieve a smooth finish.
- Intermittent dosator filling
In this method, the empty dosage tubes are inserted in a dosage hopper and the dosage punch inside the tube crushes the ingredients into a fine powder.
- Dosage cylinder filling
In this method, two dosage pistons under the hopper control the filling of ingredients. This type of filling is especially suitable for filling particle-sized ingredients.
- Vacuum filling
This method directly pulls ingredients inside the dosage tube by means of a vacuum pull. Compressed air is then used to blow the powdered content into the capsule body.
Waste capsule rejection
When the filling process is carried out, sometimes some of the capsule bodies do not separate from the capsule caps and as such are wasted products. There are pins inside the machine that pulls such capsules out of the mold and blows them into a collecting bag. The capsule caps and bodies are then both transferred to the next station for locking.
Locking capsule
The two trays containing the capsule bodies and caps rotate in sync in the locking station and the baffle plate located above the capsule tray and the pin is located under the tray moves as well to lock the two parts of the capsule in place.
Capsule ejection
Once the capsule is locked in place an ejection device, which is quite similar to the capsule rejection device, ejects the locked capsules out of the capsule tray and sends them to the outlet.
Cleaning
Once all the capsules are ejected, the tray moves back to the first station, i.e the capsule rectification table. The tray is then cleaned for any powdered remains or waste capsule bits. Compressed air is used to clean the try and the debris is collected at the dust collecting system below. Mechanical polishing can also be done to keep the filling machine shiny and remove unwanted adhesives and ingredients from its surface.