Automatic blister pack

Schering-Plough made the Claritin brand product from the prescription stage to the counter, and the two blister packaging lines became the protagonist of the "best" machine.

Chinna Chinnakaruppan's Engineering Solutions Manager said that when Schering-Plough's Claritin brand of anti-allergic drugs rose from the prescription stage to the counter in the second half of 2002, the company installed two new foams at its global headquarters in Kenilworth, NJ (New Jersey). Cover the packaging line to meet the country's demand for goods. The two production lines are identical and unique, with four main features: the instructions on the digital thermal inkjet printer's carton; the use of advanced visual machine identification technology to inspect the tablets on the foam cover, using an optical symbol to confirm Technology (OCV) to check the printing on the carton; use the robot to perform the final loading work; maintain the highest cleanliness of the hot forming/filling/sealing operations of the blisters.

Rolando Vega, Project Manager, said in Schering-Plough: “We took these technologies to the new production line because we felt that the packaging industry must continue to advance.” Line 85 is a blister pack specification that produces five Claritin tablets per plate. Each box can be fitted with one, two or three boards.

Line 84 is different from line 85. Non-Claritin products use this line. Blister packs can hold 6 to 24 tablets. Regardless of how many tablets are produced on-line in blister packs, the blister pack board specification is always 68.3x85 mm. The thermoforming machine only needs to cope with a blister pack board size, which greatly saves time for adjusting the machine.

Vega said: “We are very happy that the marketing department uses a single fixed size on the 84-line blister pack so that we don’t have to worry about how many packs are being packed. But there can be 24 but only 6 on each board. Costs seem to increase, but it's worthwhile to save conversion time.The bottom of the carton has the same prints, the difference being the height, 1 to 6 blister packs can be placed in cartons of different heights. The length and width haven't changed, only height adjustment, and adjusting the carton packing machine takes only 30 minutes."

“There is a pressurized HEPA filter room in front of each production line. There is a set of CAM thermoforming/filling/seal systems inside. The operators have to go through a transitional room before they enter, where they are to put on outside the robes. A new robe, a shoe cover, and a new hairnet on the old hairline, said Vega: “This represents a major shift in our production culture, but employees adapt to this change” before sealing. A Harlequin tablet inspection system manufactured by Italian SEA Vision was used to inspect the color of tablets and missing or damaged tablets. SEA Vision is represented by Calia Technical Inc in North America.

Test more comprehensive

Vega said: “Our previously used inspection system can only detect missed tablets. The current system can also detect incomplete tablets and color difference tablets. It uses two cameras to test the finished product. We from the touch display Enter the required parameters in the menu. All tablets that are not in the input parameters will be detected and the blisters will exit."

Chinnakaruppan added: "This surveillance system is designed in accordance with Auxiliary 21 CFR Part 11. This is part of the Federal Rule tracking electronic signature. There are electronic audit trails and passwords to protect each department's personnel such as operators, machinists, technicians or administrative staff. ."

Use a Gottscho matte printer to print the product number and expiration date before capping. The blisters that are completed in the filling room are sent to the Marchesini cardboard packaging machine via the conveyor belt for the next packaging procedure. Heat sealing and punching are the final process before it is released.

Vega said: "Carton packaging machine design capacity can be packaged 350 boxes per minute, we have confirmed that we can reach 320 boxes, but we maintain 280 boxes per minute per day."

The blisters are sent to the Marchesini stacking device which is transversely above the conveyor belt of the cardboard packaging machine. There is a counter at the bottom of the stacker, counting each feed. This following conveyor belt brings the product to the device that inserts the bubble cap. Unfolded cartons were erected, loaded, folded, and bonded using the Nordson system.

Vega said: “A device with a GUK plug-in leaflet or flyer is installed on the Marchesini machine and can be used when needed. The cartoner then is another machine that is more advanced than the old Schering-Plough line. The old machine uses an embossing wheel. The product number and expiration date are printed on the carton. The new machine is equipped with a Hewlett-Packard thermal inkjet head to print the product number and expiry date. The printing is clearer, cleaner and more consistent than the embossing wheel." The Wolke system is made in Germany. Nutec represents the United States market.

The two inspection systems are integrated on a carton packer, one is Romaco's Laetus system and the other is Calia's SEA Vision system. Laetus checks the preprinted bar code of each carton, verifying that the carton is 100% correct. SEA Vision is an OCV system that examines the printed characters of the Wolke inkjet printer and checks the integrity of each line to represent all messages.

An important goal

Chinnakaruppan said: "Our aim is to print these new lines and then automatically verify and confirm that you cannot use OCV technology to test the embossing code, so we must equip the Wolke/HP thermal inkjet coding system."

“Another advantage that Schering-Plough feels is that the new carton barcode does not require liquid ink. The HP thermal inkjet head is the same as an ordinary home computer printer cartridge. It takes only one minute to change another product.”

From the Marchesini cardboard packaging machine, the cartons go through an Optima high-speed weighing machine.

Vega said: “The faster the weighing machine operates, the more the swing will be. The swing will affect the accuracy of the load cell. The reason we chose the Optima weighing machine is that it calculates how much weight the swing affects, and then automatically makes errors. make up".

Third stage packaging

The Flexlink Conveyor Belt then sends the foam cover to the third stage package, which is a comprehensive system including a highly automated baler, cartoner, and Pester robotic palletizing system. Balers, cartoners and palletizers were manufactured by Pester. As for the connected robots, Pester invited Kuka to build them.

Vega said: "The machine puts six carton boxes in one pile, then bundles them, and wraps them together with Pliant polyethylene heat-shrink film. This is the fastest machine on the same type of single line. Now The new design is self-adhesive. When one roll is used up, the other roll can be automatically glued and there is no need to stop waiting."

These bundles of six cartons are sent to the Pester side mounter/cartoner. Out of this machine, a Markem tamp labeler attached the label printed with the product proof to each carton.

The carton labeled with the label was sent to Kuka's connection robot, the last piece of equipment on the production line. It uses a vacuum actuator to stack the carton on the tray. The palletizer was equipped with a Markem hot-melt inkjet encoder, which arranged an internal tracking number for each box.

Vega said: "The robot is a great machine. It can handle 10 empty pallets at the same time. It is already filled with 3 pallets before anyone can move it."

Vega continued: “We are very satisfied with the Pester/Kuka equipment. We have sent a lot of employees, including mechanics, supervisors and experts to the factory in Pester in Germany to accept the factory approval test. We think this is very effective, and the employees can not only follow suit. The key personnel of the company talked directly. When they returned and the machine was installed, they had a strong sense of belonging."

When you stand next to the palletizing robot, review the HEPA filter room for the CAM tf/f/s system. You will be shocked by each individual machine, how automated the production line! Only 4 people per production line.

Vega said: "It's worth noting that many machine manufacturers in this era understand that many pharmaceutical, food and beverage manufacturers are looking for a suitable machine supplier. Why there are many manufacturers, it's not hard to explain."

"We hope to be free to choose the best machine for the production line." (Finish)