Method for test pressing pellets with a rotary press and rotary press machine

Abstract

To provide a method for test pressing pellets in a rotary press.SOLUTION: A method for test pressing pellets in a rotary press includes a step in which a material to be pressed is filled in a receptacle; a step in which an upper press punch in a punch pair of the upper and lower press punches allocated to the receptacle of a die plate is located in an impact area of an upper test pressing tool of a test pressing apparatus of a rotary press, the lower press punch is guided to a test press position located in the impact area of a lower test pressing tool of the test pressing apparatus; and a step in which the upper and the lower test pressing tools are advanced towards each other via a test pressing drive of the test pressing apparatus so that the upper press punch and the lower press punch are driven towards each other in the receptacle of the die plate by the upper and lower test pressing tools to press the material filled in the receptacle into a test pellet.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a method for test pressing pellets in a rotary press, the rotary press comprising a rotary drive rotor with upper and lower press punches, upper and lower punch guides for the upper and lower press punches, and a die plate between the punch guides, wherein the upper and lower press punches interact with a receptacle of the die plate in the manufacturing mode of the rotary press, and the press further comprises a filling device in which the material to be pressed fills the receptacle in the manufacturing mode of the rotary press, and the press further comprises an upper and lower press tool that interacts with the upper and lower press punches to press the material in the receptacle into pellets in the manufacturing mode of the rotary press. The present invention also relates to a rotary press, comprising a rotary drive rotor having upper and lower press punches, upper and lower punch guides for the upper and lower press punches, and a die plate between the punch guides, wherein the upper and lower press punches interact with a receptacle of the die plate in the manufacturing mode of the rotary press, and further comprising a filling device for filling the receptacle with material to be pressed in the manufacturing mode of the rotary press, and further comprising a pressing device comprising upper and lower press tools that interact with the upper and lower press punches to press the material in the receptacle into pellets in the manufacturing mode of the rotary press.

[0002] A test press is carried out, for example, to determine the setting parameters of a rotary press machine optimal for manufacturing pellets in production mode for a new material to be pressed. The pellets may particularly be tablets. In the context of a test press, for individual pressing with minimal product use, an individual press, such as generating only one pellet, is desirable. For mass production of pellets, the use of a rotary press machine is known. To provide the pressing force required for manufacturing the pellets, the press punch moves relative to the geometric shape part of the guide of a press device consisting of, for example, upper and lower compression rollers or compression wedges. The pressing speed and the pressure holding time are determined by the rotational speed of the rotor, the geometric shape part of the guide, and the shape of the punch head of the press punch. In principle, the geometric shape part of the guide can be influenced by various means. For example, the guide curve part of the press punch can be adapted. These control the axial movement of the press punch over the orbit rotating with the rotor. Furthermore, in a rotary press machine, it is possible to influence the pressing force by slightly axially adjusting a press tool such as a compression roller or a compression wedge. Bringing the opposing upper and lower press tools closer together results in the pellets being more compressed in the pressing process and the web height becoming smaller. As a result, a greater pressing force is obtained. Of course, changing the distance between the upper and lower press tools affects the subsequent pressing of the pellets. For example, in a rotary press machine, the web height of the pellets is a dimension that can be set. The hardness of the pellets and the force required to move the pellets through the rotary press machine, particularly through the geometric shape part of the guide of the press device, are determined therefrom. It is also possible to adjust the pressing force by adjusting the web height during operation based on the measured pressing force.

[0003] Furthermore, linear presses and single-punch presses are known for test pressing and are typically used to manufacture small quantities of tablets. One area of ​​application is the research and development of new drugs and new product compositions. To compress the pellet, opposing press tools move toward each other. This can be done by moving both press tools axially or by moving only one press tool axially. This movement is performed via a linear drive, such as a spindle drive. In this type of single press, both the height of the pellet web and the pressing force can be set as target values. From this, another value is obtained.

[0004] In a rotary press designed for normal manufacturing modes, test pressing using a defined pressing force curve requires first determining the spacing between the press tools, which in all cases results in the desired pressing force. This is only possible in rotary presses that employ a trial-and-error method, where the pellet height is first set, the resulting pressing force is evaluated, and the pellet height is adjusted. These steps must be repeated until the desired pressing force is reached. Therefore, a considerable amount of material must be pressed. The geometric shape of the guide, particularly the spacing between opposing press tools, is adjusted very slowly in a rotary press and is controllable only within a very limited range. This spacing can also be set using the aforementioned pressing force adjustment. Setting the punch spacing resulting from the pressing force is also a very time-consuming process involving many control steps. Separately, the predetermined spacing of the press tools is approached at a constant speed by an adjustment drive and cannot be freely adjusted. Adjustment of the opposing press tools only adjusts the pressing force within a narrow range and is performed during continuous operation of the rotary press. This means that the average value of one or more pellets is recorded. This value then serves as the basis for readjusting the spacing of the press tools. During this readjustment, more pellets that were not manufactured under the desired conditions are produced, resulting in waste.

[0005] In contrast, linear presses are unsuitable for mass production of pellets. Furthermore, the need to set up a separate test press in addition to the rotary press set up for production mode is a disadvantage in terms of labor. Moreover, the data generated cannot be directly transferred to the rotary press set up for production mode, particularly due to the different components of the press and other parameters such as press chamber ventilation and machine suspension. Therefore, the generated data must be adapted to the production press. To do so, it is routinely necessary to perform additional test presses on the rotary press set up for production mode, which further increases the labor.

[0006] German Patent No. 10319024B3 discloses a method for test pressing tablets in a rotary tablet press, performed in a rotary press configured in the normal manufacturing mode. A pair of punches selected for each individual press automatically moves to the filling position, and material is filled into one or a limited number of dies by a fixed rotor in a filling arrangement that is at least partially separated. The rotor is then set to rotate and accelerated at the press station of the rotary press to have a desired manufacturing speed. After one rotation, the rotor stops again in the filling position. During the rotation of the rotor, a signal or signal curve from a measurement point is recorded and sent to a computer for display and evaluation. The advantage of this method is that there is no need for another test press required for the test press. This reduces labor. At the same time, the data obtained in the context of the test press can be used substantially as is without adaptation, since it has already been generated in the rotary press configured in the manufacturing mode. This also reduces labor. Since one or a few dies are filled with material, the amount of product input required for the test press can also be minimized. However, since the web height of the tablets being manufactured must be estimated during the initial test press based on the amount of filling in the die, an initially unknown pressing force is generated at the press station. The desired pressing force for a particular product must be determined accordingly through a series of test presses. This will further increase the labor and product input volume.

[0007] Based on the prior art described above, the present invention aims to provide the method and rotary press of the type described at the beginning that can reliably and with minimal effort perform a test press to set the rotary press to manufacturing mode.

[0008] The present invention is based on independent claim 1 and 10 This objective is achieved by [method]. Advantageous embodiments are shown in the dependent claims, specification, and drawings.

[0009] Regarding the type of method described at the beginning, the present invention achieves this objective by the following steps: • Filling the receptacle with the material to be pressed, To guide the pair of punches, consisting of upper and lower press punches, assigned to the die plate receptacle, to a test press position where the upper press punch is located in the collision area of ​​the upper test press tool of the rotary press machine's test press device, and the lower press punch is located in the collision area of ​​the lower test press tool of the test press device, The upper and lower test press tools are moved relative to each other using the test press drive of the test press machine, so that the upper and lower press punches are pressed against each other within the receptacle of the die plate, thereby pressing the material filled in the receptacle into a test pellet.

[0010] With respect to the rotary press machine of the type described at the beginning, the present invention achieves the objective in that the rotary press machine further has a test press device, the test press device comprising an upper test press tool and a lower test press tool, the upper test press tool interacting with an upper press punch assigned to a receptacle of the die plate for a test press, the lower test press tool interacting with a lower press punch assigned to the same receptacle, and the test press device comprising a test press drive that moves the upper and lower test press tools toward each other for a test press so that the upper and lower press punches are pressed toward each other within the receptacle of the die plate by the upper and lower test press tools, thereby pressing the material filled in the receptacle into a test pellet.

[0011] The rotary press according to the present invention, or the rotary press used in the method according to the present invention, is a rotary press provided for the normal manufacturing mode of pellets, particularly tablets, made of powdered material. In embodiments known to the extent of the invention, the rotary press comprises a rotor having a plurality of upper and lower press punches, each assigned in pairs to the receptacles or cavities of a die plate. The receptacles may be designed as holes directly present in the die plate. However, they may also be designed as sleeve-shaped inserts that are inserted into receptacles of corresponding sizes in the die plate. During operation of the rotary press, the upper and lower press punches rotate with the die plate, thereby the axial motion of these press punches is controlled by control cams and guided by upper and lower punch guides. The control cams generally interact with the punch heads of the press punches. While rotating, the die plate passes through various devices of the rotary press in manufacturing mode, namely the filling device and the pressing device. In the filling device, the powder material to be pressed is filled into the receptacle of the die plate, and in the pressing device, upper and lower press tools, such as upper and lower compression rollers, press upper and lower press punches into the receptacle to compress the powder material into pellets, such as tablets. The pressing device may have upper and lower pre-press tools, in particular pre-compression rollers, as well as upper and lower main press tools, in particular main compression rollers. Compression wedges can also be used as an alternative to compression rollers. Downstream of the pressing device, in manufacturing mode, the upper press punch is guided upward from the receptacle, and the pellets produced in the receptacle are pressed against the upper surface of the die plate by the lower press punch. To achieve this purpose, an ejection cam is provided, which moves the lower press punch upward. The pellets are then scraped out of the die plate to the discharge port of the rotary press, for example, by a scraper, from where they are fed for further processing. The control cam also generally includes a metering cam that, when the upper press punch is guided upward from a particular receptacle, positions the lower press punch in a predetermined position, partially inserted into the receptacle.At this weighing position, the lower press punch forms the bottom surface of a particular receptacle, thus defining the filling height of the material to be filled into the receptacle.

[0012] As already described, the rotary press used in accordance with the present invention is a rotary press provided for normal manufacturing modes. This can be adapted to carry out the method according to the present invention, as will be described in detail below. In particular, components of the rotary press, such as the upper and lower press punches and / or filling devices, can be removed before the start of a test press.

[0013] According to the present invention, a rotary press machine has a test press device comprising an upper test press tool and a lower test press tool. In the method according to the present invention, a pair of punches, consisting of an upper press punch and a lower press punch facing it, assigned to a receptacle of a die plate, is guided to a test press position where the upper press punch is located in the collision area of ​​the upper test press tool and the lower press punch is located in the collision area of ​​the lower test press tool. The pair of punches can be guided to the test press position by rotating a rotor to a position where the pair of punches is located in the collision area of ​​the test press tool. Before, simultaneously with, or after guiding the pair of punches to the test press position, the material to be pressed into the receptacle to which the pair of punches is assigned is filled. The receptacle can be filled, for example, manually. The receptacle can be filled to its maximum extent. Excess material can be scraped off from the top surface of the die plate. Alternatively, the receptacle can be partially filled so that a previously measured amount can be reliably and completely received into the receptacle and then pressed. Next, the upper and lower test press tools are moved toward each other by the test press drive of the test press apparatus so that the upper and lower test press tools first contact the upper and lower press punches, respectively, and the upper and lower press punches are pressed toward each other so that the punch pair presses the material in the receptacle to form a test pellet. The upper and lower test press tools can move the upper press punch axially toward the lower press punch, as well as the lower press punch toward the upper press punch. However, it is also possible, for example, to move only one of the press punches axially and press it against the other press punch which is fixed axially by a particular test press tool. In this case, the press punches, as with normal pellet pressurization, position their punch tips in the receptacle and press the material between their punch tips to form a pellet, such as a tablet.

[0014] After the test press is complete, the upper and lower test press tools can be separated using the test press drive, and the manufactured test pellets can be removed. To do this, for example, the rotor is rotated to the discharge position, the upper press punch is moved upward from the receptacle at the discharge position, and the manufactured test pellets are pressed against the upper surface of the die plate by the lower press punch.

[0015] Therefore, the rotary press according to the present invention is equipped with a test press device that replicates the characteristics of a linear press for individually pressing pellets in the rotary press environment provided for a normal manufacturing mode. The test press device, equipped with a test press drive, can individually control the test press tools and thus drive them dynamically toward each other to press the material into test pellets. The normal pressing process in the rotary press can be reliably, accurately, and in some cases automatically reproduced according to pre-selected parameters or respective path curves by individually controlling the test press drive. The test press drive is also adjustable during the test press and can satisfy the advantageous characteristics of the linear press described at the beginning without incurring its disadvantages. As already mentioned, a rotary drive of the rotor can be used to guide the punch pair to the test press position. The rotary drive can also be used to fix the press punches during the test press, for example, so that the press punches cannot move radially during the pressing process.

[0016] By integrating a test press device for a single, individual press into a rotary press machine configured for the manufacturing mode, according to the present invention, the cost of acquiring a separate linear press and the cost of training personnel can be avoided. In laboratories where such press machines are often used, installation space, which is usually insufficient, is saved. The test press environment within the rotary press machine is the same as that of the subsequent manufacturing mode. This means that the effects of humidity, press room ventilation, press tool type, machine suspension, etc., are the same, and the data obtained can be directly transferred to the subsequent manufacturing mode. Since the components for the test press, especially the test press device, are integrated into the rotary press machine, there will be no need to modify the rotary press machine to switch to the manufacturing mode. In principle, it is possible to switch directly from an individual press during test pressing to the manufacturing mode. The values ​​determined in the test press can be used directly in the subsequent manufacturing mode without further adjustment.

[0017] According to one embodiment, the pressing force and / or parameters characterizing the pressing force are determined during the test press, and the test press may be terminated by separating the upper and lower test press tools when a predetermined value of the pressing force and / or parameters characterizing the pressing force is reached. This is a crucial parameter for setting the rotary press machine into manufacturing mode. Furthermore, the method according to the present invention, or the rotary press machines configured for the present purposes according to the present invention, ensure that the desired pressing force in each case is reliably reached and not exceeded in the first pressing step. Complex trial-and-error processes can be avoided.

[0018] According to one embodiment, parameters characterizing the pressing force may be the web height, the pressing force curve, and / or the pressure holding time at a given pressing force. The web height may be determined, for example, via the axial paths of the upper and lower press punches. The pressure holding time is the running holding phase. It represents the period until the pellet is compressed to its minimum volume. During this period, the pressing force may change. The punch path no longer changes. The pressing force curve can be recorded over time.

[0019] The pressing force and / or parameters characterizing the pressing force may be considered when setting up a rotary press for a manufacturing mode.

[0020] According to another embodiment, only the punch pairs assigned to the die plate receptacles can be installed on the rotor during a test press. The other punch pairs on the rotor are removable. Naturally, it is also possible to leave some of the punch pairs on the rotor, remove some punch pairs, or leave all punch pairs on the rotor. Since only the punch pairs used for the test press are present, there is the advantage that there is no further interaction between the punch pairs and the components of the rotary press.

[0021] In another embodiment, the filling device of the rotary press may be removed or stopped during a test press. This has the advantage that receptacles not used during the test press will not be undesirably filled with the material being pressed. For example, the filling device can be completely or partially removed from the rotor. However, it can also be emptied, or the filling port that fills the receptacle with material from the filling device can be closed. This makes it possible to avoid careful measures to prevent the receptacle from being filled, such as inserting a dummy die.

[0022] In particular, according to practical embodiments, the material pressed during the test press may be manually filled into the receptacle. However, it is also conceivable to fill the receptacle with the material using this filling device or another filling device.

[0023] According to another embodiment, several test presses may be performed, and the pressing force curve and / or punch path curve may be changed by varying the drive speed of the test press drive. For example, sinusoidal and / or sawtooth and / or rectangular pressing force curves and / or punch path curves can be set by the test press drive in the context of a test press or in the context of multiple test presses. For a test press drive that is highly controllable or individually adjustable in the test press apparatus according to the present invention, highly freely defined path curves may be specified and executed in the context of one or more test presses. For example, different path curves may be presses on different rotary presses or standardized path curves in order to discover parameters suitable for a new product made of the material to be pressed. This makes it easier to find the optimal rotary press settings for subsequent manufacturing modes.

[0024] In another embodiment, the upper and lower test press tools may be separated using a test press drive after the first test press step, and then moved toward each other again using the test press drive, so that the upper and lower press punches press against each other within the die plate receptacle by the upper and lower test press tools, further compressing the material filled in the receptacle to form a test pellet. In this way, it is possible to simulate multiple presses, for example, when using a press device with multiple press tools that pass over time during the rotation of the rotor, such as multiple compression rollers, particularly pre-compression rollers and main compression rollers. This makes it possible to better simulate subsequent manufacturing modes in the context of test presses, so that the optimal setting parameters of the rotary press can be found.

[0025] The test press drive is a linear drive. In particular, it is possible to have two test press drives, one driving the upper test press tool and the other driving the lower test press tool. To allow the test press to be performed with particular flexibility, the test press drives are individually controllable or individually adjustable. In particular according to practical embodiments, the test press drive may be an electric drive or a hydraulic drive. Such drives are particularly precise and flexible, controllable or individually adjustable, and are therefore particularly suitable for the present invention. In contrast to the adjustment drives that are usually provided for the press tools of a press machine, especially compression rollers, the test press drive functions actively to press the pellets. The adjustment drives that are usually provided are simply for setting the height of the press tool. Kinetic energy is supplied from the main drive of the rotary press that drives the rotor. The test press drive is also an adjustment drive in principle, but it itself feeds the press punch to press the material in the receptacle into pellets. Conventional adjustment drives for press tools such as compression rollers can only move to a target point, but with a test press drive it is possible to travel along a predetermined path curve. Other parameters, such as pressing force, also affect the path curve. Therefore, it is possible to simulate a single-punch press in a conventional rotary press environment using a test press drive.

[0026] The rotary press may also be equipped with a control device designed to control the test press drive. The method according to the present invention can be controlled particularly automatically by the control device of the rotary press, except, for example, when manually filling the receptacle. The control device may consist of a mechanical control system for controlling the rotary press in production mode, or may be integrated into the mechanical control system. Based on the results of the test press, the rotary press may be configured with all components for subsequent production modes. This can also be done by the control device. This relates, for example, to the desired setting of the metering cam and / or the rotational speed of the press device, particularly the press tool such as a compression roller, and / or the rotor. These parameters can be measured using corresponding sensors, insofar as parameters such as pressing force or parameters characterizing the pressing force are determined according to the present invention. For this purpose, the rotary press according to the present invention may have corresponding sensors, such as pressing force sensors on the press device, particularly those placed on the press tool such as a compression roller. Parameters characterizing the pressing force curve and / or other determined parameters can also be measured using corresponding sensors of the rotary press.

[0027] According to another embodiment, the upper and lower test press tools may consist of the upper and lower press tools of the press apparatus. Press tools, such as upper and lower compression rollers, generally already have linear or eccentric guides through which the press tools can be set to a predetermined distance using an adjustment device. Furthermore, the receptacle of the press tool often already has a pressing force sensor that helps measure the pressing force and adjust a drive, such as a rotary drive of a rotor and / or a test press drive. As described above, adjustment drives that are usually provided for axially adjusting press tools such as compression rollers are not suitable for carrying out the test press according to the present invention. In particular, the test press drive may be replaced with an adjustment drive for adjusting the upper and lower press tools. The test press drive may also have a gearbox that is interchangeable with the gearbox of the adjustment drive.

[0028] However, in order to integrate the test press device with the test press drive, in addition to the press tools, other positions on the rotor are also possible. Therefore, the upper and lower test press tools may be test press tools designed separately from the press device and do not necessarily have to be involved in the manufacturing mode of the rotary press. For example, the upper and lower actuators driven using the test press drive may be arranged at rotor positions separate from the press device, and the upper and lower press punches arranged at the test press positions may be pressed against each other as appropriate using the test press drive so that they can press the material filled in the receptacle into test pellets. In this case, there is no need to modify the press device of the rotary press in order to integrate the test press device according to the present invention. In the normal manufacturing mode, the actuator can guide the press punch rotating with the rotor by forming the upper and lower guide curve elements in a particularly practical way. For this reason, by removing the upper and lower control cam elements at the test press position and making them replaceable with the upper and lower actuators driven by the test press drive, the modification of the existing rotary press is extremely simple.

[0029] As already explained, the upper and lower press tools may be constituted by upper and lower compression rollers or compression wedges.

[0030] The method according to the present invention can be carried out using the rotary press according to the present invention. Therefore, the rotary press according to the present invention can be designed to carry out the method according to the present invention.

[0031] An exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be described in more detail below with reference to the schematically shown drawings.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0032] [Figure 1] A diagram showing a rotary press according to the present invention and an exploded view of a rotor used in the method according to the present invention. [Figure 2]A diagram showing various possible pressing force curves that can be achieved with the rotary press machine or the method according to the present invention.

[0033] Unless otherwise specified, the same reference number refers to the same object in the figure.

[0034] The rotary press shown in Figure 1 is a rotary press for tablet manufacturing that can be used in the present invention, in which powder material is pressed into pellets, and in particular tablets. The rotor of the rotary press is rotationally driven by a rotary drive and comprises a die plate 10 having a plurality of receptacles 12. The receptacles 12 may be, for example, holes in the die plate 10. Furthermore, the rotor comprises a plurality of upper press punches 14 and lower press punches 16 that move in a circular motion synchronously with the die plate 10. The upper press punches 14 are guided axially within an upper punch guide 18, and the lower press punches 16 are guided axially within a lower punch guide 20. The axial motion of the upper press punches 14 and lower press punches 16 while the rotor rotates is controlled by upper control cam elements 22 and lower control cam elements 24. Furthermore, a filling device 26 is provided, which comprises a filling reservoir 28 and a filling chamber 30, which are connected via a filling tube 32. Thus, in this embodiment, the powder material passes from the filling reservoir 28 through the filling tube 32 to the filling chamber 30 under gravity, and then, from there, through the filling opening provided on the lower surface of the filling chamber 30, passes under gravity to the receptacle 12 of the die plate 10.

[0035] The rotary press further comprises a press device 34. In the shown example, the press device 34 comprises a pre-press device having an upper compression roller 36 held in an upper holder and a lower compression roller 38 held in a lower holder, and a main press device having an upper compression roller 40 held in an upper holder and a lower compression roller 42 held in a lower holder. Furthermore, the rotary press comprises a discharge device 44 and a scraping device 46, the scraping device 46 having scraping elements that supply tablets 48 manufactured by the rotary press to a discharge device 50 for discharge from the rotary press. The scraping device 46 may, for example, have sickle-shaped scraping elements that, in the area of ​​the discharge device 44, scrape the tablets 48 conveyed to the upper surface of the die plate 10 by the lower press punch 16 from the die plate 10 and supply them to the discharge device 50.

[0036] As will be described in more detail below, the rotary press further comprises a control device 52 for controlling the operation of the rotary press and for performing the method according to the present invention.

[0037] The rotary press according to the present invention also includes a test press device for test pressing pellets in the rotary press. Figure 1 shows three possible configurations of the test press device for illustrative purposes. The rotary press may be provided with all or a combination of the test press devices. However, it is also possible to provide only one of the illustrated test press devices.

[0038] In the illustrated example, the first upper test press tool 36 and the first lower test press tool 38 are composed of the upper compression roller 36 and the lower compression roller 38 of the pre-press device, respectively. The upper compression roller 40 and the lower compression roller 42 of the main press device 34 constitute the second upper test press tool 40 and the second lower test press tool 42, respectively. Furthermore, in Figure 1, a third upper test press tool 54 and a third lower test press tool 56 are provided in the discharge position region of the rotor, and are designed as actuators that can be replaced with corresponding control cam elements in the discharge position region.

[0039] In the illustrated example, test press drives 58 are assigned to the upper and lower test press tools 36, 38, 40, 42, 54, and 56, respectively. Each test press drive 58 acts on the test press tools 36, 38, 40, 42, 54, and 56 assigned to them via a connector 60. The connector 60 may form or comprise a gearbox for a particular test press drive 58. For example, each connector 60 may comprise a toothed belt, a toothed belt pulley, a planetary screw drive with a nut, and a drive shaft. The test press drives 58 may be, for example, hydraulic or electric drives.

[0040] In a test press using the first test press device, a pair of punches, consisting of upper and lower press punches 14 and 16 assigned to the receptacle 12 of the die plate 10, is guided to the test press position, which in this embodiment is located in the region where the distance between the upper compression roller 36 and the lower compression roller 38, which are the first upper test press tool 36 and the first lower test press tool 38 respectively, is smallest. For this purpose, the upper compression roller 36, which is the upper test press tool 36, and the lower compression roller 38, which is the lower test press tool 38, are first separated from each other using the test press drive 58, so that the pair of punches can be easily guided to the test press position, for example by rotating the rotor. Before, during, or after moving to the test press position, the receptacle 12 assigned to the pair of punches is filled, for example, manually with the material to be pressed. Next, the upper and lower compression rollers 36 and 38, which are the first upper and lower test press tools 36 and 38, move toward each other using their respective assigned test press drives 58 so that the upper and lower press punches 14 and 16 of the punch pair are pressed toward each other by the upper and lower test press tools 36 and 38 within the receptacle 12 of the die plate 10, thereby compressing the material filled in the receptacle into test pellets. After the test press is complete, the first upper and lower test press tools 36 and 38 are movable sequentially toward each other in a controlled manner by the test press drives 58 so that the test pellets can be removed from the receptacle 12. For this purpose, the rotor can be moved to a discharge position where the lower press punch 16 ejects the manufactured test pellets onto the upper surface of the die plate 10. The test press drives 58, as well as the rotor, are controllable by the control device 52. For example, a predefined pressing force can be realized in the context of the test press, as will be described in more detail below. Different pressing force curves and punch travel curves are also feasible. Based on this, the rotary press can be optimally configured for subsequent manufacturing modes.In this embodiment, the test press drive 58 acts on the compression rollers 36, 40 or 38, 42 respectively as a test press tool. The test press drive 58 can be replaced with an adjustment drive for the compression rollers 36, 40 or 38, 42 respectively to set the axial spacing between the compression rollers 36, 40 or 38, 42, and may include a gearbox for the adjustment drive if necessary.

[0041] Similar to the first test press apparatus, which uses compression rollers 36 and 38 as the first test press tools, test pressing can be performed using the second and third test press apparatuses shown in Figure 1. In this case, the test press position to which the punch pair is guided differs depending, for example, on the corresponding rotation of the rotor. In particular, for test pressing with the second test press apparatus equipped with compression rollers 40 and 42 as second upper and lower test press tools 40 and 42, the punch pair is positioned at the rotational position of the rotor corresponding to the minimum distance between the upper and lower compression rollers 40 and 42. As soon as this position is reached, it is also possible to perform test pressing using the second test press apparatus in the same manner as described above using the first test press apparatus.

[0042] Therefore, a test press can be performed with a third test press device, in which case the test press position corresponds to the position of the punch pair shown at the far right of Figure 1. As soon as this position is taken, the third test press tools 54, 56 can be separated using the test press drive 58 as needed, and after filling the receptacle 12 with the material to be pressed, the test press can be performed again by pressing the third test press tools 54, 56 toward each other using the associated test press drive 58. For this purpose, it is understood that the lower press punch 16 is moved further downward so that the receptacle 12 can be filled to the desired filling height.

[0043] As described, the rotary press according to the present invention can be used to perform test presses with different pressing force curves. Furthermore, the rotary press may be equipped with a pressing force sensor in the area of ​​the described test press apparatus to measure the pressing force during the test press. In this way, it is possible to ensure that the desired pressing force is reached and not exceeded.

[0044] Figure 2 shows, for example, different possible pressure curves over time. From left to right, Figure 2 shows a sinusoidal pressure curve, a sawtooth pressure curve, multiple pressure curves, and a rectangular pressure curve. Multiple pressure curves can simulate, for example, pressing in a rotary press machine equipped with a pre-press and a main press, through which the press punch passes over time as it rotates. In the third figure from the left in Figure 2, the varying heights of a particular pressure curve simulate lower pressure in the pre-press region compared to the main press region. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0045] 10 die plates 12 Receptacles 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 tubes 34 Main press machine 36, 40, 54 Upper Compression Roller / Test Press Tool 38, 42, 56 Lower Compression Roller / Test Press Tool 44 Discharge device 46 Scraping device 48 pellets 50 Ejector 52 Control device 58 Test Press Drive 60 Connection part

Claims

1. A method for test pressing pellets (48) in a rotary press, wherein the rotary press comprises a rotary drive rotor having upper and lower press punches (14, 16), upper and lower punch guides (18, 20) for the upper and lower press punches (14, 16), and a die plate (10) between the punch guides (18, 20), wherein the upper and lower press punches (14, 16) interact with a receptacle (12) of the die plate (10) in the manufacturing mode of the rotary press, and further comprises a filling device (26) into which the material to be pressed in the manufacturing mode of the rotary press is filled into the receptacle (12), and further comprises a pressing device (34) having upper and lower press tools that interact with the upper and lower press punches (14, 16) to press the material in the receptacle (12) into pellets, the method comprising the following steps: - Filling the receptacle (12) with the material to be pressed, - To guide the pair of punches, consisting of upper and lower press punches (14, 16) assigned to the receptacle (12) of the die plate (10), to a test press position where the upper press punch (14) is located in the collision area of ​​the upper test press tools (36, 40, 54) of the rotary press machine's test press device, and the lower press punch (16) is located in the collision area of ​​the lower test press tools (38, 42, 56) of the test press device, - The upper and lower test press tools (36, 40, 54, 38, 42, 56) are used to move the upper and lower test press tools (38, 42, 56) relative to each other, so that the upper press punch (14) and the lower press punch (16) are pressed against each other within the receptacle (12) of the die plate (10), thereby pressing the material filled in the receptacle (12) into a test pellet (48), thereby reproducing the characteristics of a linear press.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that a pressing force and / or parameters characterizing the pressing force are determined during the test press, and when a predetermined value of the pressing force and / or parameters characterizing the pressing force is reached, the test press is terminated by separating the upper and lower test press tools (36, 40, 54, 38, 42, 56).

3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that the parameters characterizing the pressing force are the web height, the pressing force curve, and / or the pressure holding time at a predetermined pressing force.

4. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that the pressing force and / or parameters characterizing the pressing force are taken into consideration for setting up the rotary press for the manufacturing mode.

5. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that only the punch pairs assigned to the receptacle (12) of the die plate (10) are installed on the rotor during the test press.

6. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the material pressed during the test press is manually filled into the receptacle (12).

7. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that several test presses are performed and the pressing force curve and / or punch path curve are changed by changing the drive speed of the test press drive.

8. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that sinusoidal and / or sawtooth and / or rectangular pressing force curves and / or punch path curves are set by setting the drive speed of the test press drive in the context of the test press or in the context of multiple test presses.

9. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the upper and lower test press tools are separated using the test press drive after a first test press step, and then moved toward each other again using the test press drive, so that the upper press punch (14) and the lower press punch (16) are pressed against each other within the receptacle (12) of the die plate (10) by the upper and lower test press tools, thereby further pressing the material filled in the receptacle (12) to form a test pellet.

10. A rotary press comprising a rotary drive rotor having upper and lower press punches (14, 16), upper and lower punch guides (18, 20) for the upper and lower press punches (14, 16), and a die plate (10) between the punch guides (18, 20), wherein the upper and lower press punches (14, 16) interact with a receptacle (12) of the die plate (10) in the manufacturing mode of the rotary press, and further comprising a filling device (26) for filling the receptacle (12) with material to be pressed in the manufacturing mode of the rotary press, and further comprising a pressing device having upper and lower press tools that interact with the upper and lower press punches (14, 16) to press the material in the receptacle (12) into pellets in the manufacturing mode of the rotary press, The rotary press machine further has a test press device, the test press device comprising upper test press tools (36, 40, 54) and lower test press tools (38, 42, 56), wherein for a test press, the upper test press tools (36, 40, 54) interact with an upper press punch (14) assigned to a receptacle (12) of the die plate (10), and the lower test press tools (38, 42, 56) interact with a lower press punch (16) assigned to the same receptacle (12), and the upper and lower test press A rotary press machine characterized by having a test press drive that reproduces the characteristics of a linear press, which moves the upper test press tools (36, 38, 40, 54) and the lower test press tools (38, 42, 56) toward each other for a test press, so that the upper press punch (14) and the lower press punch (16) are pressed toward each other within the receptacle (12) of the die plate (10) by the tools (36, 38, 40, 42, 54, 56) press the material filled in the receptacle (12) into a test pellet (48).

11. The rotary press according to claim 10, characterized in that the test press drive comprises an electric drive or a hydraulic drive.

12. The rotary press according to claim 10, characterized in that the rotary press includes a control device (52) designed to control the test press drive.

13. The rotary press machine according to claim 10, characterized in that the upper and lower test press tools (36, 40, 54, 38, 42, 56) are composed of the upper and lower press tools of the press device.

14. The rotary press machine according to claim 10, characterized in that the upper and lower test press tools (36, 40, 54, 38, 42, 56) are test press tools configured separately from the press device (34).

15. The rotary press machine according to claim 10, characterized in that the upper and lower test press tools (36, 40, 54, 38, 42, 56) are composed of upper and lower compression rollers (36, 40, 54, 38, 42, 56).

16. The rotary press according to claim 10, characterized in that it is designed to perform the method described in one of claims 1 to 9.

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