Rotary press and use of rotary press

Abstract

The present invention provides a rotary press machine equipped with a rotor that can be rotated by a rotary drive. [Solution] The rotary press is equipped with a scraping device 44 that scrapes off pellets 48 that have been pressed into a first pellet discharge port and then discharged onto the upper surface of the die plate 10 by a lower press punch 16, and the rotary press is equipped with a sorting device that sorts the pellets individually into a second pellet discharge port. The sorting device is equipped with a sorting drive device and a sorting element that is movable between a sorting position and a standby position by the sorting drive device, and at the sorting position, the sorting element is located in the conveying path of the pellets to the first pellet discharge port and guides the pellets from the conveying path to the second pellet discharge port, and the sorting drive device is equipped with an electric motor equipped with a magnet driven by the stator of the electric motor, and the magnet converts its driving motion into the driving motion of a sorting element with a higher driving speed via a transmission element of the sorting drive device.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a rotary press equipped with a rotor rotatable by a rotary drive, wherein the rotor has an upper punch guide for an upper press punch, a lower punch guide for a lower press punch, and a die plate positioned between the punch guides, the press punch interacting with the cavity of the die plate, the rotary press further comprises a filling device, by which the powder material to be pressed is filled into the cavity of the die plate, the rotary press further comprises a pressurizing device comprising an upper pressure unit and a lower pressure unit, which, during operation, interacts with the upper and lower press punches to press the powder material in the cavity of the die plate into pellets, the rotary press further comprises a scraping device that scrapes off pellets that have been pressed and then discharged onto the upper surface of the die plate by the lower press punch to a first pellet discharge port, and the rotary press further comprises a sorting device that sorts the pellets individually to a second pellet discharge port. The present invention further relates to the use of such a rotary press.

[0002] In a rotary press machine, a plurality of upper and lower press punches are regularly provided, each of which is assigned in pairs to the cavities of the die plate. During the operation of the rotary press machine, the upper and lower press punches rotate together with the die plate, whereby the axial movement of the press punches is controlled by a control cam and guided by upper and lower punch guides. While rotating, the die plate passes through various devices of the rotary press machine, i.e., a filling device and a pressing device. In the filling device, the powder material to be pressed is guided into the cavities of the die plate. In the pressing device, the upper and lower press punches are generally pressed into the cavities by upper and lower pressing rollers in order to press the powder material into pellets such as tablets. Downstream of the pressing device, the upper press punch is guided upward from the cavity, and the pellets produced in the cavity are pressed against the upper surface of the die plate by the lower press punch. Such a rotary press machine also includes a scraping device for scraping off the pressed pieces discharged onto the upper surface of the die plate by the lower press punch after pressing. The scraping device may be at least partially disposed above the die plate and include a scraping channel that guides the pellets discharged from the die plate rotating under the scraping channel to a first pellet discharge port. The first pellet discharge port may be, for example, a discharge port for pellets recognized as good products.

[0003] A second pellet discharge port is provided, for example, for pellets recognized as defective products by a sensor system or for sampling of pellets. In order to select pellets from the flow of pellets flowing in the direction of the first pellet discharge port, a sorting device is provided in the rotary press machine to sort the pellets to the second pellet discharge port according to, for example, the measurement data of sensors provided in the rotary press machine. For example, an appropriate sensor can be used to monitor the pressing force during pellet production. Defective pellets can be detected and sorted based on the measurement data of the corresponding pressing force sensor.

[0004] In the history of rotary presses, initial attempts were made to sort pellets using mechanical sorting devices. For this purpose, deflector elements were moved along the pellet transport path in a mechanically driven manner. However, such mechanical sorting devices proved to be too time-consuming, and could not reliably sort individual pellets, especially when the rotation speed of the die plate of the rotary press was typically high. In addition, such systems often had too short a stroke, and for example, taller tablets could not be sorted by this system.

[0005] Therefore, pneumatic sorting devices that redirect the pellets to be sorted toward a second pellet outlet by a jet of compressed air are commonly used in rotary presses. The jet of compressed air is generated by a sorting nozzle connectable to a compressed air source, and a controllable valve is located in the line to the nozzle. Such sorting devices are known, for example, from German Patent No. 10 2005 005 012B4 and German Patent No. 10 2016 101 028B4. German Patent Publication No. 10 2013 202 975A1 also describes a sorting device in which sorting is performed, for example, by airflow. Alternatively, sorting by slider is also described. Sorting devices driven by compressed air are proven in principle and are actually established in the case of rotary presses.

[0006] However, compressed air-driven sorting devices can also cause problems depending on the application. The injection of compressed air can blow away powdery products or dust from other products inside the press chamber of a rotary press. This can lead to contamination of the area around the press chamber. In many applications, pharmaceutical-grade air is also required for the compressed air injection. Furthermore, such sorting devices are too slow to reliably sort individual pellets at very high rotor speeds. Moreover, due to design constraints, particularly in terms of air pressure control, it is not always possible to reliably allocate the injection of compressed air to the pellets to be sorted.

[0007] Therefore, based on the prior art described above, the present invention is based on the objective of providing a rotary press and the type of rotary press described at the beginning that can safely and accurately sort individual pellets in a simple manner, without the risk of contaminating the press chamber of the rotary press, even when the rotational speed of the rotary press rotor is very high.

[0008] The present invention achieves this objective by independent claims 1 and 14. Advantageous embodiments are disclosed in the dependent claims, specification, and drawings.

[0009] Regarding the rotary press of the type described at the beginning, the present invention achieves this objective in that the sorting device comprises a sorting drive device and a sorting element that is movable between a sorting position and a standby position by the sorting drive device, wherein at the sorting position, the sorting element is located in the conveying path of pellets to a first pellet discharge port and guides the pellets from the conveying path to a second pellet discharge port, and the sorting drive device comprises an electric motor equipped with a magnet driven by the stator of the electric motor, wherein the magnet converts its driving motion into the driving motion of a sorting element with a higher driving speed via a transmission element of the sorting drive device.

[0010] The basic structure of the rotary press, which is the subject of this invention, is as described at the beginning. As described, upper and lower punch guides guide the press punch as it moves axially. The punch head interacts with a control cam that moves the press punch axially, in particular, toward or toward each other, as it rotates on the rotor. The control cam is usually made up of several control cam elements. The control cam can house the punch head in a corresponding guide holder or rest only on the mirror surface of the punch head. The pressurizing device usually comprises an upper pressurizing roller and a lower pressurizing roller, which interact with the respective punch heads of the upper and lower press punches. Several pressurizing devices of this type may be provided, for example, a pre-pressurizing device and a main pressurizing device. The discharge cam, as part of the control cam, moves the lower press punch upward after the pellets have been produced in their respective cavities, so that the pellets reach the upper surface of the die plate and from there are transported, for example, through a scraping channel to a first pellet discharge port. The pellets may be tablets in particular. Thus, the rotary press may be a rotary tablet press. Tablets are, for example, pharmaceutical tablets.

[0011] The scraping device may include a scraping channel that is at least partially positioned above the die plate, so that pellets indexed from the cavity to the upper surface of the die plate by the lower press punch are guided from the die plate along the scraping channel to a first pellet discharge port. However, the scraping device may consist only of a scraping element, for example, shaped like a sickle, in particular a scraping plate that guides the pellets indexed to the upper surface of the die plate to a first pellet discharge port. The first part of the scraper or scraping channel may be positioned above the die plate, and the second part may be positioned radially outward from the die plate. Since it is fixed to the rotor, in particular to the die plate, the die plate rotates below the scraping channel, for example, during the operation of the rotary press. The scraper or scraping channel may be positioned above the die plate at a small distance, in particular, so that all pellets are captured, as the distance is smaller than the thinnest pellets produced by the rotary press. As the die plate rotates, the pellets ejected onto the upper surface of the die plate by the lower press punch after pressing are scraped off the die plate by a scraper or scraping channel, particularly the channel wall, and transported toward the first pellet outlet. As described, the first pellet outlet may be, for example, a good pellet outlet for pellets recognized as good by the rotary press's sensors. Correspondingly, the second pellet outlet may be a defective pellet outlet for pellets recognized as defective. However, it may also be an outlet for sampling, for example.

[0012] This invention proposes an electromechanical sorting device, different from the pneumatic sorting devices currently installed in rotary presses. For this purpose, the sorting device comprises a sorting drive unit and a mechanical sorting element movable between a sorting position and a standby position by the sorting drive unit. The sorting element may be a guide element or scraping element that guides pellets at the sorting position from the transport path to a second pellet discharge port, or scrapes them from the die plate. At the sorting position, the sorting element is located in the transport path of pellets to the first pellet discharge port and guides the pellets from the transport path to the second pellet discharge port. The die plate rotates below the sorting element. At the sorting position, the sorting element may be positioned a short distance above the die plate. In particular, the distance is smaller than the thinnest pellet produced by the rotary press so that all pellets are captured. As the die plate rotates, the pellets to be sorted are then scraped off the die plate by the sorting element and transported toward the second pellet discharge port. However, in the standby position, the sorting element moves out of the transport path, so that the pellets are guided to the first pellet discharge port without coming into contact with the sorting element. The sorting element may have a straight or curved shape. The sorting element may also be positioned at an angle to the direction of rotation of the rotor at the sorting position. This angle may be 90 degrees, or greater than 90 degrees, for example, in the range of 90 to 150 degrees.

[0013] The sorting drive system has an electric motor equipped with a magnet moved by the stator of the electric motor. The magnet moved by the stator of the electric motor may be a permanent magnet or an electromagnet. The driving motion of the magnet is converted via a transmission element into the driving motion of a sorting element that has a higher driving speed than the magnet. Therefore, it is possible to move the sorting element back and forth between the sorting position and the standby position at a speed faster than the magnet moving by the electric motor. Thanks to this highly dynamic sorting drive, the mechanical sorting element can reliably sort individual pellets into the second pellet discharge port, even when the rotational speed of the rotary press rotor is very high.

[0014] The present invention enables reliable individual sorting of pellets even at extremely high rotor speeds. Since mechanical sorting does not involve compressed air, there is no scattering of surrounding product powder or dust. Unlike conventional pneumatic sorting systems, there is no need to supply expensive pharmaceutical-grade air to the sorting process. Due to the high sorting speed and rotor design, specific pellets can be reliably assigned to specific punch sets within specific cavities, even at high rotor rotation speeds. The sorting apparatus according to the present invention can, for example, specifically sort certain tablets for sampling, or sort pellets generated at the beginning or end of the manufacturing process. This simplifies the design of the rotary press by allowing the sorting of tablets, previously performed at downstream pellet outlets, such as using a diverter, or, for example, for sampling or sorting of defective tablets, to be moved to the die plate height. If necessary, a diverter can be omitted at, for example, the first pellet outlet. Furthermore, the sorting device according to the present invention, for example, by using the lever-shift device detailed below, enables a sufficiently large stroke between the sorting position and the standby position, thus enabling highly reliable sorting regardless of the type of pellet being manufactured, such as the height of the pellets.

[0015] According to one embodiment, the sorting element may include a sorting lever that is pivotable between a sorting position and a standby position. The pivot of the pivotable sorting lever may extend parallel to or perpendicular to the rotation axis of the die plate. The sorting lever can be designed, for example, as a sorting plate. A large stroke is available between the sorting position and the standby position, allowing for format-independent sorting and forming a practical embodiment, particularly for high-speed sorting.

[0016] In further embodiments, the sorting element may include a sorting wheel having at least one sorting blade, which is rotatable between a sorting position and a standby position. The axis of rotation of the rotatable sorting wheel may extend parallel to or perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the die plate. The sorting wheel may include, for example, one or more sorting blades that can be regularly arranged on the circumference of the sorting wheel. At least one sorting blade may extend radially. However, embodiments in which the sorting blades are curved are also conceivable. This type of sorting wheel can also be used to reliably and quickly sort pellets.

[0017] In a further embodiment, the magnet may cause a transmission element to translate, and the translational motion of the transmission element is transmitted to the sorting element to move between a sorting position and a standby position. The sorting drive device may be a linear drive device. The magnet then translates due to the magnetic field of a stator, for example, a coil. This translational motion can be converted into the movement of the sorting element.

[0018] In this regard, according to a further embodiment, the transmission element may have a transmission pin with a rack portion, the toothed rack portion meshing with a gear connected to the sorting element in order to transmit the translational motion of the transmission pin to the pivotal or rotational motion of the sorting element. The toothed rack portion can be formed integrally with the transmission pin, for example, or it can be detachably connected to the transmission pin. In this embodiment, the translational motion of the transmission pin, in particular the magnet of the electric motor, is converted into the rotational motion of the sorting element, so that the sorting element rotates in a lever transmission.

[0019] In a further embodiment, the transmission element may have a transmission projection that engages with an elongated hole in the sorting lever, and a magnet translates through the transmission projection, causing the sorting lever to pivot between a sorting position and a standby position in a direction oblique to the longitudinal axis of the elongated hole. In this embodiment, the sorting lever is positioned with one end on or directly above the die plate in the sorting position and the other end on the opposite side. This opposite end has an elongated hole and forms a fulcrum for the sorting lever. The transmission projection, such as a transmission pin, engages with the elongated hole and is translated by a moving magnet of an electric motor in a direction oblique to the longitudinal axis of the elongated hole. If the electric motor is a linear drive, the axis of movement of the translational magnet may extend parallel to the axis of rotation of the die plate. The translational movement of the transmission projection causes the sorting lever, equipped with a lever speed changer, to rotate between the standby position and the sorting position.

[0020] As a general rule, the sorting drive device may have a gear ratio greater than 2:1, for example, greater than 2.5:1 or greater than 3:1, such as a lever ratio. When the magnet of the electric motor moves a small amount, the sorting element then moves a large amount in response.

[0021] As explained, the electric motor may be a linear drive system. Naturally, the electric motor may also be a rotary drive. The magnet is then moved rotationally by the stator's magnetic field. This rotational motion can be directly transmitted to the rotational motion of the sorting element, for example, via a transmission gear. It is also conceivable to convert the rotational motion of the magnetic field into translational motion.

[0022] In a further embodiment, the magnet may be at the same distance from the stator throughout its rotational or translational motion. The magnet can be mounted to the stator in a manner that allows for rotational or translational motion by means of a sliding bearing and a spring element. In this embodiment, the magnet has a highly dynamic but linear force curve throughout its entire travel path to displace the sorting element between the sorting position and the standby position. As a result, particularly reliable and accurate pellet sorting is achieved. This force curve is possible because the sliding bearing and, for example, a spring coil as a spring element, ensure that the distance between the moving magnet and the stator of the electric motor is always the same throughout the entire travel distance. For example, the coil of a mobile electromagnet may be configured with a central spring at one end and a sliding bearing at the other end. The central spring is positioned on the side facing away from the sorting element. Such an arrangement reduces the system's dynamics somewhat but improves its mechanical load capacity. However, high dynamics can be achieved by applying an overcurrent to the electric motor's electromagnet for a short period, for example, milliseconds. To further accelerate the magnets, it is possible to use lighter armature material instead of iron armature in the electric motor. Debounce can be achieved in this way by designing one of the electric motor's coils as an induction coil. The sorting element then experiences little to no debounce from the die plate as it moves to the sorting position.

[0023] In a further embodiment, the rotary press may include a control device and a position sensor, the position sensor detecting the rotational position of each cavity in the die plate, the position value detected by the position sensor being applied to the control device, and the control device being designed to operate a sorting drive to move the sorting elements between a sorting position and a standby position according to the position value detected by the position sensor. Furthermore, the sorting device may include a sorting element sensor for detecting the sorting position and / or standby position of the sorting elements, the position value detected by the sorting element sensor being applied to the control device, and the control device being designed to operate a sorting drive to move the sorting elements between a sorting position and a standby position according to the position value detected by the sorting element sensor. The embodiments described above make it possible to accurately and individually assign the sorting process to individual pellets based on the cavity or punch. For example, an incrementing position sensor detects the rotational position of the die plate and thus (indirectly) detects the rotational position of each cavity or each set of punches in the die plate. The detected position values ​​are transmitted to the rotary press's control unit, which uses these values ​​to precisely control the sorting drive mechanism and sort specific pellets assigned to specific cavities. Furthermore, by using sorting element sensors to detect the sorting position and / or standby position of sorting elements, such as the sorting lever, and supplying these position values ​​to the control unit, the rotational position of the rotary press's rotor can be precisely determined in relation to the position of the sorting elements. This ensures that the sorting elements move precisely into the space between two adjacent pellets on the conveying path to the first pellet discharge port, so that the appropriate pellets are specifically detected by the sorting elements and deviated from the conveying path. Monitoring the standby position also ensures that the lever reaches the standby position again within a sufficient time before another pellet is sorted in an undesirable manner. In this way, pellets can be individually sorted even at high rotational speeds, which is not possible to safely implement with currently used pneumatic sorting devices.In particular, the control and valve switching times of pneumatic sorting devices, as well as the timing of compressed air pulses, can lead to incorrect pellet sorting.

[0024] The control device may be designed to actuate a sorting drive to move a sorting element between a sorting position and a standby position in response to a sorting signal from at least one pellet quality sensor of the rotary press. The pellet quality sensor can measure the quality of the pellet, for example, the composition of the pellet. For example, the pellet quality sensor may include a spectroscopic sensor such as an NIR or LIF sensor. Alternatively, the pellet quality sensor may be a pressure sensor that measures the pressing force when pressurizing the pellet. Since the pellet quality sensor measures individual, i.e., pellet-related quality criteria, the control device, upon receiving the measurement data, can evaluate whether a particular pellet meets the quality requirements (good) or does not meet them (defective). If a pellet is identified as defective, the sorting device can then be precisely actuated to sort the pellet identified as defective and precisely sort only the defective pellets to a second pellet process. However, as already described, the control device can also actuate the sorting drive to sort pellet samples, for example, or to sort pellets at the beginning and / or end of a manufacturing process.

[0025] The present invention also achieves this objective by using a rotary press according to the present invention to sort individual pellets into a second pellet discharge port. The rotor of the rotary press can be driven at a rotational speed of at least 80 revolutions per minute, particularly at least 100 revolutions per minute, for example, up to 120 revolutions per minute. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0026] Exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in more detail below with reference to the figures.

[0027] [Figure 1] A diagram showing the flat state of the rotor of the rotary press machine according to the present invention. [Figure 2] An enlarged perspective view showing a part of the rotary press of FIG. 1 equipped with the sorting device according to the present invention. [Figure 3] A perspective view of the sorting device shown in FIG. 2. [Figure 4] A side view of the sorting device of FIG. 3. [Figure 5] A perspective view of a further exemplary embodiment of the sorting device according to the present invention. [Figure 6] A perspective view of a further exemplary embodiment of the sorting device according to the present invention.

Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[0028] Unless otherwise specified, the same reference numerals refer to the same objects in the drawings.

[0029] The rotary press according to the present invention shown in FIG. 1 is a rotary press for manufacturing tablets, in which a powder material is pressed into tablets. The rotor of the rotary press is rotationally driven by a rotary drive and includes a die plate 10 having a plurality of cavities 12. The cavity 12 may be formed, for example, by holes in the die plate 10. Further, the rotor includes a plurality of upper press punches 14 and lower press punches 16 that rotate in synchronization with the die plate 10. The upper press punch 14 is axially guided within the upper punch guide 18, and the lower press punch 16 is axially guided within the lower punch guide 20. The axial movement of the upper press punch 14 and the lower press punch 16 while the rotor rotates is controlled by the upper control cam element 22 and the lower control cam element 24. The rotary press further includes a filling device 26, which includes a filling reservoir 28 and a filling chamber 30, which are connected via a filling pipe 32. Thus, in this embodiment, the powder material passes from the filling reservoir 28 under gravity through the filling pipe 32 to the filling chamber 30, and from there, under gravity again, through the filling opening provided on the lower surface of the filling chamber 30 to the cavity 12 of the die plate 10.

[0030] The rotary press further includes a pressurizing device 34. The pressurizing device 34 includes a pre-pressurizing device having an upper pre-pressurizing roller 36 held in an upper holder 35 and a lower pre-pressurizing roller 38 held in a lower holder 37, and a main pressurizing device having an upper pressurizing roller 40 held in an upper holder 39 and a lower pressurizing roller 42 held in a lower holder 41. Furthermore, the rotary press includes a scraping device 44 equipped with a scraping channel 46. The scraping channel scrapes the tablets 48 that have been conveyed to the upper surface of the die plate 10 by the lower press punch 16 from the die plate 10 and conveys the tablets 48 to the first pellet discharge port 58 through the scraping channel 46. The scraping channel 46 may be, for example, sickle-shaped and will be described in more detail with reference to the following figures. Furthermore, the rotary press includes a control device 52 that controls the operation of the rotary press. The rotary press also includes a second pellet discharge port, which is not shown in detail in Figure 1, located upstream of the first pellet discharge port 58 in the rotational direction of the die plate 10, and may be arranged, for example, parallel to it.

[0031] Figures 2 to 4 illustrate a first exemplary embodiment of a sorting apparatus according to the present invention. In Figure 2, for illustrative purposes, only a portion of the die plate 10 and upper punch guide 18, which have only one upper press punch 14, are shown. Figure 2 shows a cavity 12 formed along a circular path in the die plate 10, in which the upper and lower punches 14, 16 press tablets 48, respectively. After pressing, the tablets 48 are ejected onto the upper surface of the die plate 10 by the lower press punch 16, as described. An example of a tablet 48 is shown in Figure 2. The sorting apparatus shown in Figures 2 to 4 comprises a sorting drive unit 54, which comprises an electric motor 54 designed, for example, as a linear drive unit. A magnet, for example, an electromagnet of the electric motor 54, reciprocates translationally along a moving axis 56. In the exemplary embodiment shown in Figures 2 to 4, the translationally movable magnet is connected to a transmission pin 60, the longitudinal axis of which corresponds to the moving axis 56 of the magnet. At the end of the transmission pin 60 facing away from the electric motor 54, the transmission pin 60 has a toothed rack portion 62 that meshes with the gear 64 of the sorting element. The sorting element is equipped with a sorting lever 66, and a scraping portion 68 is positioned at its free end. This scraping portion is positioned on the upper surface of the die plate 10 in the transport path of the tablets 48 to the first pellet discharge port 58 at the sorting position shown in Figure 2. In the example shown in Figure 2, the tablets 48 shown on the upper surface of the die plate 10 are scraped off by the scraping portion 68 and enter the second pellet discharge port.

[0032] The gear 64 is fixedly positioned at the end of the sorting lever 66, with its end opposite the scraping section 68, so that during the translational motion of the transmission pin 60 driven by the electric motor 54, the sorting lever 66 rotates around the rotation axis 70 of the gear 64. In this way, the translational motion of the transmission pin 60 is converted into rotational motion of the sorting lever 66, and the lever ratio is preferably greater than 2:1, for example, 2.5:1. Accordingly, the sorting lever 66 can pivot upward from the sorting position shown in Figure 2 to a standby position as the transmission pin 60 translates toward the electric motor 54, and the tablets 48 in the standby position can further pass under the scraping section 68 toward the first pellet discharge port 58.

[0033] Figure 5 shows a further exemplary embodiment of the sorting apparatus according to the present invention. In the exemplary embodiments shown in Figures 2 to 4, the moving axis of the magnet of the electric motor 54, and therefore the moving axis of the transmission pin 60, travels perpendicular to the rotation axis of the die plate 10. However, in the exemplary embodiment of Figure 5, the moving axis of the magnet travels parallel to the rotation axis of the die plate 10, i.e., along the cylinder axis of the cylindrical housing of the electric motor 54. The electric motor 54 is located on a housing plate 72, which can be fixed within the press housing of a rotary press adjacent to the rotary die plate 10. In Figure 5, the sorting element is also designed as a sorting lever 74, at its free end, next to which is a scraping section 76, which, in the sorting position, is located on the upper surface of the die plate 10 in the transport path of the tablets 48 to the first pellet discharge port 58, similar to the scraping section 68 in Figures 2 to 4, and in the standby position, pivots upward away from the die plate 10. The scraping function of the scraping unit 76 corresponds to the scraping function of the scraping unit 68.

[0034] In the exemplary embodiment shown in Figure 5, the movable magnet of the electric motor 54, which is also designed as a linear drive unit, drives a transmission projection 80 located in the elongated hole 78 of the sorting lever 74 in a translational manner along the direction of movement of the electric motor 54's magnet, i.e., the vertical direction in Figure 5. In this way, the sorting lever 74 pivots between the sorting position and the standby position by the reciprocating motion of the transmission projection 80.

[0035] Figure 6 shows three further exemplary embodiments of the sorting apparatus according to the present invention, which, with respect to the electric motor 54 and the transmission pin 60 having a toothed rack portion 62, initially correspond substantially to the exemplary embodiments shown in Figures 2 to 4. These embodiments differ from the exemplary embodiments shown in Figures 2 to 4, on the one hand with respect to the sorting elements and on the other hand with respect to the orientation of the transmission pin 60. Thus, in the exemplary embodiments shown in Figures 6a) and 6c), the transmission pin 60 having a toothed rack portion 62 is rotated by 90 degrees in each case compared to the exemplary embodiment shown in Figure 4. The toothed rack portion 62 in Figures 6a) and 6c) engages with a gear 82 formed on a cylindrical retaining portion 84, respectively. In the exemplary embodiment shown in Figure 6a), a sorting block 86 is formed at the lower end of the retaining portion 84, with the lower end facing away from the gear 82, and is pivotable by the electric motor 54 around the rotation axis 88 of the retaining portion 84 to move within the transport path to the first pellet discharge port 58 of the tablets 48 (sorting position) and outside the transport path (standby position). Next, at the sorting position, the sorting block 86 is positioned substantially directly above the upper surface of the die plate 10, and thus guides the tablets 48 to the second pellet discharge port.

[0036] In the exemplary embodiment shown in Figure 6c), a sorting wheel 90 is positioned at the lower end of the holding section 84, with the lower end facing away from the gear 82, and has three sorting blades 92, which project from the center of the sorting wheel 90 at equal radial distances. Naturally, other numbers of sorting blades 92 are also possible, for example, two or four sorting blades 92. An electric motor 54 can be used to rotate the sorting wheel 90 about the rotation axis 88 of the holding section 84, which is substantially directly above the die plate 10, so that, depending on the rotation position, the tablets 48 are guided to the second pellet discharge port or passed to the first pellet discharge port 58.

[0037] The exemplary embodiment shown in Figure 6b) is substantially equivalent to the exemplary embodiment shown in Figure 6c), except that the rotation axis 94 of the gear 82 is tilted by 90 degrees. In this case, the sorting blades 92 of the sorting wheel 90 are rotatable sequentially in and out of the transport path of the tablets 48 on the die plate 10 by corresponding rotations driven by the electric motor 54.

[0038] In the exemplary embodiments shown in Figures 6a) to 6c), transmission is ensured by transmission pins 60 that engage with each gear 82 in the toothed rack portion 62.

[0039] In the exemplary embodiment shown in the figure, the electric motor 54 is described as a linear drive with a translationally movable magnet, but it would also be possible to design the electric motor 54 as a rotary drive so that the magnet performs rotational motion. This could be transmitted directly to gears 64, 82 via a transmission gear, for example. Alternatively, the rotational motion of the electric motor 54 could be converted to translational motion, in which case the transmission elements according to the exemplary embodiment could be used again. Furthermore, the movable magnet of the electric motor 54 may be both an electromagnet and a permanent magnet. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0040] 10 die plates 12 Cavity 14 Upper press punch 16 Lower press punch 18. Upper punch guide 20 Lower punch guide 22 Upper control cam element 24 Lower control cam element 26 Filling equipment 28 Filling reservoir 30 Filling Chambers 32 Filling pipes 34 Pressurizing device 35 Upper holder 37 Lower holder 36 Upper preload roller 38 Lower preload roller 39 Upper holder 40 Upper pressure roller 41 Lower holder 42 Lower pressure roller 44 Scraping device 46 Scraping Channels 48 pellets / tablets 52 Control device 54. Sorting drive device / electric motor 56 Movement axis 58 Pellet discharge port 60 transmission pins 62 Toothed rack section 64 gears 66 Sorting lever 68 Scraping part 70 Rotation axis 72 Housing Plate 74 Sorting lever 76 Scraping part 78 Elongated holes 80 Transmission projection 82 Gears 84 Holding part 86 sorting blocks 88 Rotation axis 90 sorting wheels 92 sorting blades

Claims

1. A rotary press machine having a rotor rotatable by a rotary drive, the rotor having an upper punch guide (18) for an upper press punch (14), a lower punch guide (20) for a lower press punch (16), and a die plate (10) positioned between the punch guides (18, 20), the press punches (14, 16) interacting with a cavity (12) of the die plate (10), and the rotary press machine further comprising a filling device (26), this filling device (26) The powder material to be pressed is filled into the cavity (12) of the die plate (10), and the rotary press is a pressure device (34) comprising an upper pressure unit (40) and a lower pressure unit (42), which, during operation, interacts with the upper press punch (14) and the lower press punch (16) to press the powder material in the cavity (12) of the die plate (10) to form pellets (48), and the The rotary press machine includes a scraping device (44) that scrapes off pellets (48) that have been pressed into a first pellet discharge port (58) and then discharged onto the upper surface of the die plate (10) by the lower press punch (16), and the rotary press machine includes a sorting device that sorts the pellets (48) individually into a second pellet discharge port, and the sorting device includes a sorting drive device (54) and a sorting element that is movable between a sorting position and a standby position by the sorting drive device (54), and A rotary press characterized in that the sorting element is located in the transport path of the pellets (48) to the first pellet discharge port (58), and guides the pellets (48) from the transport path to the second pellet discharge port, and the sorting drive device (54) comprises an electric motor (54) equipped with a magnet driven by the stator of the electric motor (54), and the magnet converts its driving motion into the driving motion of a sorting element with a higher driving speed via a transmission element of the sorting drive device (54).

2. The rotary press according to claim 1, characterized in that the sorting element comprises sorting levers (66, 74) that are pivotable between the sorting position and the standby position.

3. The rotary press according to claim 2, characterized in that the pivots of the pivotable sorting levers (66, 74) extend parallel to or perpendicular to the rotation axis of the die plate (10).

4. The rotary press according to claim 1, characterized in that the sorting element comprises a sorting wheel (90) rotatable between the sorting position and the standby position, and has at least one sorting blade (92).

5. The rotary press according to claim 4, characterized in that the axis of rotation of the rotatable sorting wheel (90) extends parallel to or perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the die plate (10).

6. The rotary press according to claim 1, characterized in that the magnet causes the transmission element to move in translation, and the translation of the transmission element is transmitted to the sorting element to move between the sorting position and the standby position.

7. The rotary press according to claim 6, wherein the transmission element has a transmission pin (60) equipped with a toothed rack portion (62), and the toothed rack portion (62) meshes with gears (64, 82) connected to the sorting element in order to transmit the translational motion of the transmission pin (60) to the pivotal or rotational motion of the sorting element.

8. The rotary press according to claim 7, characterized in that the transmission element has a transmission projection (80) that engages with an elongated hole (78) of the sorting lever (74), and the magnet translates the transmission projection (80) to pivot the sorting lever (74) between the sorting position and the standby position in a direction that extends obliquely with respect to the longitudinal axis of the elongated hole (78).

9. The rotary press according to claim 1, characterized in that the magnet is at the same distance from the stator throughout its rotational or translational motion.

10. The rotary press according to claim 9, characterized in that the magnet is mounted to the stator by means of a sliding bearing and a spring element so that it can rotate or translate relative to the stator.

11. The rotary press according to claim 1, characterized in that the rotary press comprises a control device (52) and a position sensor, the position sensor detects the rotational position of each cavity (12) of the die plate (10), the position value detected by the position sensor is applied to the control device (52), and the control device (52) is designed to operate the sorting drive device (54) to move the sorting element between the sorting position and the standby position according to the position value detected by the position sensor.

12. The rotary press according to claim 11, characterized in that the sorting device includes a sorting element sensor for detecting the sorting position and / or the standby position of the sorting element, the position value detected by the sorting element sensor is applied to the control device (52), and the control device (52) is designed to operate the sorting drive device (54) to move the sorting element between the sorting position and the standby position according to the position value detected by the sorting element sensor.

13. The rotary press according to claim 11, characterized in that the control device (52) is designed to operate the sorting drive device (54) to move the sorting element between the sorting position and the standby position in response to a sorting signal from at least one pellet quality sensor of the rotary press.

14. Use of a rotary press according to one of claims 1 to 13 for sorting individual pellets (48) to the second pellet discharge port.

15. The use according to claim 14, characterized in that the rotor of the rotary press is driven at a rotational speed of at least 80 revolutions per minute, particularly at at least 100 revolutions per minute, for example, up to 120 revolutions per minute.

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