Seamless soft capsule drying device

Abstract

The utility model discloses a seamless soft capsule drying device. The drying machine comprises a machine body, drying fans arranged in bottom containing cavities, a tray fixing frame installed above top containing grooves and a plurality of material screens, a vibrator is arranged at the bottom of the tray fixing frame, the tray fixing frame is provided with lower frame bodies matched with the top containing grooves, and the material screens are arranged in the lower frame bodies respectively. The bottom containing cavity and the top containing groove are communicated with each other, and an air outlet of the drying fan directly faces the material screen, so that the seamless dripping soft capsules contained in the material screen can be dried. The device has the advantages that the device is of a non-rotating structure and is not provided with a power transmission device such as a motor, the structure is simplified, the cost is reduced, drying is convenient and fast, drying loss is low, the yield is high, meanwhile, the structure is simple, cleaning is convenient, mounting and dismounting are easy, the labor intensity of workers is reduced, and the labor cost is reduced.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This utility model relates to a soft capsule processing equipment, specifically a seamless soft capsule drying device. Background Technology

[0002] Soft capsules are capsules containing a certain amount of liquid medicine sealed in a spherical or elliptical soft capsule material. They can be prepared by dripping or compression methods. The soft capsule material is made of gelatin, glycerin, or other suitable pharmaceutical materials. After forming, soft capsules require drying. The moisture content of the capsule wall affects the disintegration time of the drug. When drying soft capsules, the temperature should not be too high, the drying intensity should not be too great, and a long drying cycle results in high energy consumption. Furthermore, problems such as adhesion and breakage caused by improper drying conditions seriously affect the production of soft capsule products.

[0003] In existing technologies, rotary drum dryers are typically used to achieve drying purposes. Rotary drum dryers generally consist of a frame and a drum. When processing dried soft capsules in batches, the drum becomes increasingly larger. When preparing dried soft capsules of different types, the drum usually needs to be removed from the frame or the machine for cleaning to avoid material residue. Because the existing drums are not only large in size but also heavy, it is troublesome and laborious to move the drums during batch continuous production, making it difficult to clean the drums. This is not conducive to the machine's rapid continuous processing. Furthermore, because the drum itself has many small holes, cleaning it thoroughly also takes more time.

[0004] For example, a Chinese patent publication numbered CN105571287B, entitled "A Soft Capsule Dryer," discloses an invention patent that can achieve drying purposes. Analysis reveals that it primarily targets pellets, which are generally large in size. Soft capsules, on the other hand, have a low overall moisture content. Therefore, this dryer is only suitable for drying large-sized soft capsules. However, it cannot dry small-diameter seamless drip-formed soft capsules (1.5mm-4mm in diameter) due to their small size. Specifically, their volume is approximately only one-tenth that of traditional soft capsules. The diameter of the beads is 1 / 10 to 1 / 50, even smaller than the aperture on the rotating drum. Even if it is larger than the aperture on the rotating drum, it is very easy to clump and stick to the inner surface of the rotating drum. On the one hand, it reduces the air volume inside the rotating drum, and on the other hand, it will cause the beads to become deformed and cracked, increasing production losses. Secondly, the moisture content of small-diameter seamless drip soft capsules with a diameter between 1.5mm and 4mm before drying is generally between 60% and 80%, while the moisture content of traditional soft capsules before drying is generally between 15% and 25%. This means that the drying time of such small-sized seamless soft capsules is 2 to 3 times or even longer, resulting in low drying efficiency.

[0005] In general, for seamless drip soft capsules with a diameter between 1.5mm and 4mm, the traditional rotary drying method has the following drawbacks: low drying efficiency, long drying time, high material loss during the drying process, high labor intensity and low efficiency for workers during disassembly and cleaning, resulting in high overall labor costs. Summary of the Invention

[0006] The technical problem to be solved by this utility model is to provide a seamless soft capsule drying device that can not only effectively reduce energy consumption and shorten drying time, but also be easy and quick to disassemble, thereby effectively reducing labor costs.

[0007] To solve the above-mentioned technical problems, the seamless soft capsule drying device of this utility model includes a body having a bottom placement cavity and a top placement slot, a drying fan installed in each of the bottom placement cavities, a tray fixing frame installed above the top placement slot, and multiple material screens for holding seamless drip soft capsules with a diameter between 1.5mm and 4mm. A vibrator is provided at the bottom of the tray fixing frame next to the body. The tray fixing frame has a lower frame adapted to each of the top placement slots, and each material screen is respectively placed in one of the lower frames. The bottom placement cavity and the top placement slot are interconnected, and the air outlet of the drying fan is directly facing the material screen, thereby enabling the drying of seamless drip soft capsules placed in the material screen.

[0008] Each of the bottom mounting cavities is arranged side by side and separated by a partition, and a frame is provided at the bottom of the body.

[0009] One vibrator is installed on each of the left and right sides of the tray fixing frame.

[0010] The drying fan is an axial flow fan.

[0011] The aperture of the material screen is 0.2-1.0 mm smaller than the outer diameter of the dried material.

[0012] The vibrator is an electromagnetic vibrator.

[0013] The advantages of this utility model are:

[0014] By incorporating drying fans installed in the bottom cavities, a tray holder mounted above the top storage trough, and a material screen for holding seamless drip soft capsules with a diameter between 1.5mm and 4mm, and ensuring the bottom and top storage troughs are interconnected, the air outlet of the drying fan is directly aligned with the material screen. This allows for direct drying of seamless drip soft capsules with a diameter between 1.5mm and 4mm using the drying fan. The device is a non-rotating structure, eliminating the need for motors or other power transmission devices, simplifying the structure, reducing costs, and providing convenient, fast, and efficient drying with low drying loss and high yield. Its simple structure also eliminates unsanitary corners, facilitating cleaning, and is easy to install and disassemble; simply removing the screen tray allows for easy transport to the cleaning room, reducing labor intensity and costs. Furthermore, the use of an axial flow fan as the dryer results in a significantly higher airflow than traditional rotary drum dryers, further improving drying efficiency. Attached Figure Description

[0015] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the seamless soft capsule drying device of this utility model. Detailed Implementation

[0016] The seamless soft capsule drying device of this utility model will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments.

[0017] As shown in the figure, the seamless soft capsule drying device of this utility model includes a body 3 with a bottom placement cavity 1 and a top placement slot 2, a drying fan 4 installed in each bottom placement cavity, a tray fixing frame 5 installed above the top placement slot, and a material screen 6 for holding seamless drip soft capsules with a diameter between 1.5mm and 4mm. As can be seen from the figure, in this embodiment, the body has three bottom placement cavities 1 arranged side by side, and each bottom placement cavity 1 is separated by a partition 9. A frame 10 is installed at the bottom of the body 3. Two vibrators 7 are installed at the bottom of the tray fixing frame 5 on the left and right sides of the body. The top of the frame 10 has three top placement slots 2 that are respectively connected to each bottom placement cavity 1. The tray fixing frame 5 has three lower frames 8 that are respectively adapted to each top placement slot. The bottom of the lower frame 8 has a through hole. The three material screens 6 are respectively installed in one of the lower frames with the screen facing the through hole. The air outlet of the drying fan is directly facing the material screen. The material screen 6 is used to dry seamless drip soft capsules placed inside the screen. The tray fixing frame 5 is fixed to the vibrator. The drying process is accompanied by high-frequency low-amplitude vibration, rather than being static, which effectively avoids the adhesion between materials. At the same time, it has high drying efficiency. For seamless drip soft capsules with a diameter between 2mm and 4mm, the drying efficiency is more than 3 times that of traditional rotary drum dehumidifiers. The drying loss is low and the yield is high. The yield of the drying process is higher than that of traditional rotary drum dryers. In addition, its structure is simple and easy to disassemble and assemble. Especially during cleaning, traditional rotary drum dryers, depending on the diameter, weigh 25 kg to 60 kg per drum. At least two people are needed to carry and clean them. For drums with a diameter of more than 600mm, even special lifting and disassembly equipment is required, which is inefficient and costly. This utility model only requires the removal of the screen tray. The screen tray weighs about 1 kg and is collected together and transported to the cleaning room.

[0018] Furthermore, the aforementioned drying fan 4 is an axial flow fan with an air volume of not less than 3000 m³ / h. 3The air volume is greater than that of a traditional rotary drum dryer, resulting in a drying fan volume of more than 5 times that of a rotary drum dryer for the same unit weight of material. Under the same air volume conditions, the size is smaller, allowing for a more compact device. The aperture of the material screen is not fixed and depends on the material size. In this embodiment, the aperture of the material screen 6 is 0.2-1.0 mm smaller than the outer diameter of the dried material. Preferably, the screen aperture is 0.8 mm smaller than the outer diameter of the dried material to minimize air resistance, increase drying air volume, and thus improve drying efficiency. Furthermore, the vibrator type used in this invention is not limited; it can be a pneumatic turbine vibrator, piezoelectric vibrator, electromagnetic vibrator, electric motor vibrator, etc. From the perspective of vibration controllability, an electromagnetic vibrator is preferred, as it allows for precise setting of frequency and vibration amplitude, better adapting to different materials.

[0019] The following section will verify its effectiveness through specific applications:

[0020] Placed in the drying room Figure 1 Three drying devices are shown. The room's air conditioning dehumidification system is turned on, with a dehumidification capacity of 25 kg / hour. 13.5 kg of three-layer seamless soft capsules (3 mm in diameter, 70% moisture content) are weighed and placed in a centrifuge to remove oil. The centrifuge speed is 1200 rpm for 60 seconds. The capsules are then removed and placed in a polyester fiber cloth for rapid oil absorption. After 5 minutes, the remaining wet material weighs 13.2 kg. The cleaned 3 mm three-layer seamless soft capsules are divided into nine equal portions (1.47 kg / portion) and placed in the material sieve 6 shown in the diagram. The sieve 6 has a mesh size of 2.2 mm. The start button is pressed, and the drying fan 2 and vibrator 1 start working simultaneously. The vibrator frequency is set to 300 Hz, amplitude to 0.5V, and the fan's rated airflow is 3000 m³ / h. 3 / hour; after 60 minutes, the moisture content of the material is tested every 20 minutes using a rapid moisture meter. The moisture data are as follows: a moisture content of less than 5% is considered acceptable for drying. For the same material, the drying time can be entered when starting the machine. The drying will automatically stop after the time is up, with an audible and visual alarm to prevent cracking. After drying, the material should be observed to be free of lumps and irregular shapes.

[0021] Drying time 60 minutes 80 minutes 100 minutes 120 minutes 140 minutes Moisture content 27.2％ 11.0％ 5.4％ 3.5％ 3.7％

[0022] Table 1

[0023] Table 1 shows that after drying for 120 minutes, the moisture content of the soft capsules was qualified, the drying was completed, and they could be collected; the weight of moisture evaporated from the material in one hour was 13.2 kg * (70% - 3.5%) = 8.778 kg.

[0024] Control group 1

[0025] In the same room, with the same dehumidifier units, nine traditional rotary dryers were placed (rotary diameter 450mm, rotary length 800mm, each rotary dryer corresponding to a fan airflow of 600m³ / h). 3 / h), take the same weight of 13.5 kg of wet beads, divide the weight equally and put them into 9 rotating cages, each cage containing 1.5 kg of material, and start drying. The moisture content at each time period is shown in Table 2. After drying, observe that there is material adhering to the inner wall of the rotating cage, but no lumps or irregular shapes.

[0026] Drying time 3 hours 4 hours 5 o'clock 6 hours 7 hours Moisture content 23.3％ 14.9％ 6.5％ 3.6％ 3.5％

[0027] Table 2

[0028] Table 2 shows that after 6 hours of drying, the moisture content of the soft capsules was within acceptable limits, and the drying process was complete, allowing for collection.

[0029] Compared with Control Group 1, the drying method used in this invention has a drying efficiency three times that of the traditional rotary drum drying method, which can significantly improve the drying efficiency of small-diameter seamless drip soft capsules with a diameter of 1.5mm-4mm.

[0030] Of course, the above description is not intended to limit the present utility model, and the present utility model is not limited to the examples given above. Any changes, modifications, additions or substitutions made by those skilled in the art within the scope of the present utility model should also fall within the protection scope of the present utility model.

Claims

1. A seamless soft capsule drying apparatus, characterized by: The machine body (3) comprises bottom accommodation cavities (1) and top accommodation grooves (2), dry air fans (4) accommodated in the bottom accommodation cavities, a tray fixing frame (5) installed above the top accommodation grooves, and a plurality of material screens (6) for containing seamless soft gel capsules with a diameter of 1.5-4 mm.

2. The apparatus for drying seamless soft capsules according to claim 1, characterized in that: The bottom accommodation cavities (1) are arranged side by side and separated by partitions (9), and the bottom of the machine body (3) is provided with a rack (10).

3. The apparatus for drying seamless soft capsules according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The tray fixing frame (5) is provided with one of the vibrators (7) on each side.

4. The apparatus for drying seamless soft capsules according to claim 3, characterized in that: The dry air fan (4) is an axial flow fan.

5. The apparatus for drying seamless soft capsules according to claim 1, 2 or 4, characterized in that: The aperture of the material screen (6) is 0.2-1.0 mm smaller than the outer diameter of the dried material.

6. The apparatus for drying seamless soft capsules according to claim 5, characterized in that: The vibrator (7) is an electromagnetic vibrator.

Images