Package making – With means responsive to a sensed condition – Separate delivery of incomplete or defective package
Reexamination Certificate
2001-06-21
2003-04-01
Kavanaugh, Ted (Department: 3728)
Package making
With means responsive to a sensed condition
Separate delivery of incomplete or defective package
C053S900000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06539686
ABSTRACT:
DESCRIPTION
The invention is applied industrially in the sector of pharmaceutical machines known as capping machines operating intermittently or continuously and designed to open, fill and close hard-gelatin capsules which are fed pre-closed to said machines. In particular, the invention refers to the devices which feed the capsules into the seats or sleeves of the capping machines.
FIGS. 1 and 2
in the accompanying drawings show, with parts sectioned and in different operating conditions, a side elevation view of a known device for feeding the capsules to the sleeves of a capping machine. From the said figures it can be seen that the hard-gelatin capsules C are provided with a bottom cap or base C
1
with a rounded end, onto which a covering cap or lid C
2
with a rounded end is fitted. The external diameter of the base C
1
is usually less than the external diameter of the lid C
2
. The empty and pre-closed capsules C are placed randomly inside a hopper—not shown—inside which a hollow and vertical tube
1
enters at the bottom and moves axially with an alternating movement, the internal diameter of said tube being slightly greater than the external diameter of the lid C
2
of the capsules C such that the latter enter into the tube in succession, vertically arranged and randomly oriented. An intercepting element
2
is laterally hinged on the tube
1
at the pivot
3
and, via spring means (not shown), is normally kept in the active position for retaining the capsules C inside the tube
1
when the latter is raised as shown in FIG.
2
and which, when instead the same tube
1
is lowered as shown in
FIG. 1
, interferes with stopping means
4
and retracts so as to allow a capsule C to fall into a calibrated well
5
where the said capsule C remains in a vertical position resting on the bottom
105
of said well. The well
5
is located in the middle part of a horizontal, straight and flat channel
6
, an end section
106
of which has a width slightly smaller than the external diameter of the lid C
2
of the capsules C, while in the section at the opposite end of the same channel
6
there slides a horizontal thruster
7
provided on its face directed towards the well
5
with a tip
107
located about halfway up the height of this well
5
. The thruster
7
is for example hinged at
10
b
, via a connecting rod
8
, with an angled lever
9
which is pivotably mounted in between at
10
on a fixed support
11
and hinged at
10
a
with the slide
101
which supports the tube
1
and from which the said thruster
7
derives the movement which causes it to move to the right when the tube
1
is raised as shown in FIG.
2
and instead causes it to return into the rest position as can be seen in
FIG. 1
, when the said tube
1
is lowered. During operation of the apparatus, when the thruster
7
moves to the right, its tip
107
touches, in the middle part, the capsule C located inside the well
5
and pushes it into the section
106
. If the capsule C is oriented with its base C
1
upwards, the tip
107
and the friction of the channel section
106
against the lid C
2
have the effect that the said capsule C follows the movement of the thruster
7
, rotating in an anti-clockwise direction when viewing
FIG. 1
, until it reaches the position shown in continuous lines and indicated by C′ in FIG.
2
. If, on the other hand, the capsule C is oriented inside the well
5
with its lid C
2
downwards, the said capsule C follows the movement of the thruster
7
and at the same time rotates in the clockwise direction when viewing FIG.
1
and reaches the position shown in broken lines and indicated by C″ in FIG.
2
. In either case, after the active stroke of the thruster
7
, the capsule C reaches the end part of the section
106
of the channel
6
, arranged substantially horizontally and with the lid C
2
again directed to the left when viewing FIG.
2
. From
FIGS. 1 and 2
it can be seen that the tube
1
has, associated with it, a vertical thruster
12
with a tip
112
directed towards the middle part of the capsules in the positions C′ or C″, so that when the horizontal thruster
7
returns into the rest position after lowering of the tube
1
, the vertical thruster
12
pushes the capsule C downwards and at the same time causes it to rotate clockwise when viewing
FIG. 1
, again owing to the friction exerted by the section
106
of the channel
6
on the lid C
2
of the said capsule C, until the said capsule C mates with the rounded recess
212
in the thruster
12
and is arranged vertically with the lid C
2
upwards and the base C
1
downwards. In this condition the capsule is made to leave the bottom part of the section
106
of the channel
6
and fall into the sleeve
13
of one of the radial slides S of the capping machine carousel, the sleeve
13
being shaped so as to retain the capsule by means of the step formed by the edge of the lid C
2
.
At present, in the known devices of the type described above, owing to the relative movements which the capsules C undergo during storage, transportation and introduction into the said feeding hopper, and also owing to the alternating movement of the tube
1
inside said hopper, a capsule C may open and the well
5
, instead of receiving a capsule C together with its associated lid C
2
directed downwards or upwards, may receive only the base C
1
of a capsule C or else a capsule C which below will be described by the term “defective capsule” and which has two lids C
2
on one end or on the opposite ends of a base C
1
. In such cases, the base or the defective capsule with the two lids C
2
are transferred by the horizontal thruster
7
above the sleeve
13
so that only the base C
1
is able to fall by means of gravity inside the sleeve
13
, or the subsequent intervention of the vertical thruster
12
may insert the defective capsule C with the two lids C
2
into the sleeve
13
, consequently obstructing the said sleeve
13
and in certain cases causing blockage of the capping machine.
The invention intends to overcome the said drawback and limitation of the known art with the following proposed solution. Respective secondary thrusters are added to the horizontal and vertical thrusters or primary thrusters and the guide channel is provided with dimensions such that the capsule guiding and feeding steps are performed with minor successive displacements of the said capsule. For this purpose the primary vertical thruster is made to operate in a position distant from the capping machine sleeve, i.e. at a distance such as to allow discarding and removal of the defective capsules with a double base or the individual bases of the said capsules. The portion of the guide channel section inside which the secondary vertical thruster operates is provided with dimensions such that it has a width slightly less than that of the upstream portion of the said channel section in order to retain firmly the ends of any defective capsules which have lids on the opposite ends of a base. Such a defective capsule, arranged horizontally or inclined by the primary horizontal thruster, is then acted on both by the tip of the primary vertical thruster and by a front and rear face of the secondary vertical thruster able to expel this defective capsule from the bottom of the guide channel.
REFERENCES:
patent: 1545777 (1925-07-01), Kath et al.
patent: 1839820 (1932-01-01), Wilkie
patent: 2412637 (1946-12-01), Smith
patent: 3831476 (1974-08-01), Noren et al.
patent: 4089152 (1978-05-01), Zanasi
patent: 5417030 (1995-05-01), Ribani et al.
patent: 5966910 (1999-10-01), Ribani et al.
patent: 615739 (1994-09-01), None
patent: 8401800 (1986-01-01), None
I.M.A. - Industria Macchine Automatiche - S.p.A.
Larson & Taylor PLC
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