Pharmaceutical tablet press control mechanism
First Claim
1. An apparatus for measuring and displaying information regarding tablets being produced in a rotary tablet press having a mechanism for rejecting defective tablets and having a plurality of tablet dies each with and associated tablet punch set, comprising, in combination:
- means for monitoring tablet producing compression at at least one tablet die location and generating successive tablet compression data each time said press rotates, each said tablet compression data indicative of a tablet compression related to a single tablet;
data processing and mechanism control means, connected to said monitoring means, for successfully retrieving each said tablet compression data and processing each said retrieved tablet compression data prior to retrieving the next tablet compression data, said data processing and mechanism control means controlling operation of the defective tablet rejection mechanism according to processed data for a separate tablet, said tablet data processing and mechanism control means operating in accordance with a first master clock signal;
data storage means, connected to said data processing and mechanism control means, for addressably recording at least a portion of the information processed by the data processing and mechanism controlling means, said data processing and mechanism control means accessing said data storage means solely during a first portion of said master clock signal;
central data processing means connected to said data storage means for processing data recorded therein by said data processing and mechanism control means, said central data processing means processing information stored in said data storage means concurrent with the retrieval and processing of tablet compression data by said data processing and mechanism control means, said central data processing means operating in accordance with a second masterclock signal and said central data processing means accessing said data storage means solely during a second portion of said second master clock signal, said second portion of said second master clock signal occurring at a time out of phase with said first portion of said first master clock signal whereby said data processing and mechanism control means and said central data processing means synchronously share said data storage means; and
display means controlled by said central data processing means, for displaying tablet compression information processed from tablet compression data retrieved and processed by said data processing and mechanism control means.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Control and monitoring instrumentation for a high speed double rotary tablet press mechanism is disclosed. Each tablet press side has strain gauges producing signals indicative of table compression. The strain gauges generate control signals received by a peak detector, which holds the maximum strain signal. The peak signals are converted to digital form and provided to a microprocessor that first controls operation of the reject gate and regulates tablet consistency by controlling powder fill into the dies, and second, passes information to RAM. The RAM is shared by a master CPU, clocked 180° out of phase with the microprocessor. The master CPU produces either a CRT or printed output of both raw and statistically abstracted tablet press data.
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Citations
19 Claims
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1. An apparatus for measuring and displaying information regarding tablets being produced in a rotary tablet press having a mechanism for rejecting defective tablets and having a plurality of tablet dies each with and associated tablet punch set, comprising, in combination:
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means for monitoring tablet producing compression at at least one tablet die location and generating successive tablet compression data each time said press rotates, each said tablet compression data indicative of a tablet compression related to a single tablet; data processing and mechanism control means, connected to said monitoring means, for successfully retrieving each said tablet compression data and processing each said retrieved tablet compression data prior to retrieving the next tablet compression data, said data processing and mechanism control means controlling operation of the defective tablet rejection mechanism according to processed data for a separate tablet, said tablet data processing and mechanism control means operating in accordance with a first master clock signal;
data storage means, connected to said data processing and mechanism control means, for addressably recording at least a portion of the information processed by the data processing and mechanism controlling means, said data processing and mechanism control means accessing said data storage means solely during a first portion of said master clock signal;central data processing means connected to said data storage means for processing data recorded therein by said data processing and mechanism control means, said central data processing means processing information stored in said data storage means concurrent with the retrieval and processing of tablet compression data by said data processing and mechanism control means, said central data processing means operating in accordance with a second masterclock signal and said central data processing means accessing said data storage means solely during a second portion of said second master clock signal, said second portion of said second master clock signal occurring at a time out of phase with said first portion of said first master clock signal whereby said data processing and mechanism control means and said central data processing means synchronously share said data storage means; and display means controlled by said central data processing means, for displaying tablet compression information processed from tablet compression data retrieved and processed by said data processing and mechanism control means. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13)
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11. Apparatus according to claim 11 wherein said data processing and mechanism control means executes a program and wherein said monitoring means includes interrupt means for interrupting said program in response to said counter reaching a preselected digital output count.
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14. An apparatus for measuring and displaying information regarding tablets produced in a rotary tablet press having a mechanism for rejecting defective tablets and having a plurality of tablet dies each with an associated tablet punch set which rotate relative to cams for compression of the punch sets to form the tablets, comprising, in combination:
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monitoring means for monitoring the tablet producing compression of each tablet punch set at at least one press location as the punch sets rotate pass the press location, said monitoring means being selectively actuated for generating successive tablet compression data as said press rotates, each said tablet compression data indicative of a tablet compression related to a single tablet; rotary angular position means for monitoring the rotational position of the tablet punch sets and generating a position signal which changes with the rotation of the punch sets relative to said press location for indicating the rotary angular position of the punch sets; data processing and mechanism control means, connected to said monitoring means and said rotary angular position means and responsive to said position signal for selectively actuating said monitoring means at predetermined angular positions of the punch sets for successively retrieving tablet compression data, said data processing and mechanism control means processing each said retrieved tablet compression data and controlling operation of the defective tablet rejection mechanism according to processed data for a separate tablet; data storage means, connected to said data processing and controlling means, for addressably recording at least a portion of the information processed by the data processing and mechanism controlling means; and display means controlled by said data processing and mechanism control means, for displaying tablet compression information processed from tablet compression data. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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Specification