Method for the automatic control of the amount of active ingredient of tablets during the production in a rotary tablet press

• US 7,471,992 B2
• Filed: 04/05/2007
• Issued: 12/30/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 04/12/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Fette GmbH (LMT Leading Metalworking Technologies GmbH & Company KG)
• Original Assignee: Fette GmbH (LMT Leading Metalworking Technologies GmbH & Company KG)
• Inventors: Schmidt, Ingo, Andersen, Ines
• Primary Examiner(s): Rodriguez; Paul L
• Assistant Examiner(s): LAUGHLIN, NATHAN L
• Application Number:
  US11/696,853
• Publication Number:
  US 20070241127A1
• Time in Patent Office: 635 Days
• Field of Search: 700/206, 700/108, 700/109, 700/110, 425/148, 425/149, 264/40.1, 264/40.4, 264/410, 264/481
• US Class Current: 700/206
• CPC Class Codes: B30B 11/005 Control arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: B30B 11/08 co-operating with moulds carried by a turntable
• CPC Class Codes: B30B 15/302 Feeding material in particulate or plastic state to moulding presses

Abstract

Method for the automatic control of the amount of active ingredient of tablets during the production in a rotary tablet press, which has a die table with die bores, upper and lower punches assigned to the die bores, a filling station, a metering cam for the lower punches in the filling station, at least one pressing station with at least one upper and one lower pressing roller, wherein at least the lower pressing roller is adjustable with respect to the other pressing roller by means of a pressing roller adjustment equipment, a metering cam adjustment equipment for height adjustment of the metering cam, a compression force measuring equipment at the pressing station, a control and operating computer and an active ingredient measuring equipment, characterized by the following procedural steps: during the tablet production, the amount of active ingredient of tablets is measured and values for the amount of active ingredient are compared with a predetermined desired active ingredient value in the control and operating computer, and the metering cam is adjusted in accordance with the deviation of the measured amount of active ingredient from the desired active ingredient value.

Claims

1. Method for the automatic control of the amount of active ingredient of tablets during the production in a rotary tablet press, which has a die table with die bores, upper and lower punches assigned to the die bores, a filling station, a metering cam for the lower punches in the filling station, at least one pressing station with at least one upper and one lower pressing roller, wherein at least the lower pressing roller is adjustable with respect to the other pressing roller by means of a pressing roller adjustment equipment, a metering cam adjustment equipment for height adjustment of the metering cam, a compression force measuring equipment at the pressing station, a control and operating computer and an active ingredient measuring equipment, characterised by the following procedural steps:

during the tablet production, the amount of active ingredient of tablets is measured and measured values for the amount of active ingredient are compared with a predetermined desired active ingredient value in the control and operating computer and the control and operating computer determines a deviation of the measured amount of active ingredient from the desired value,

during the tablet production, the compression forces on the lower and/or upper pressing roller are measured,

the control and operating computer compares the measured values of the compression force with a predetermined desired value of the compression force and determines a deviation,

the lower pressing roller is adjusted in accordance with the deviation when there is a deviation of the measured amount of active ingredient from the desired value, and

the metering cam is adjusted in accordance with the deviation of the compression force values.

2. Method according to claim 1, characterised in that the active ingredient measuring equipment measures also the weight of the tablets, and the control and operating computer compares the relation of a measured amount of active ingredient to the weight with the relation of a predetermined desired value for the amount of active ingredient to the weight.

3. Method according to claim 1, characterised in that the measurement of the amount of active ingredient is performed in the tablet press.

4. Method according to claim 1, characterised in that the measurement of the amount of active ingredient and of the weight of the tablets is performed in an external device.

5. Method according to claim 1, characterised in that the measurement of the amount of active ingredient is performed by a Near Infrared Spectroscopy (NIRS) or a Laser Induced Fluorescence Spectroscopy (LIF) method.