Adjustable Blister Pack Feeder for Multi-Shape Product Filling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Automatic feeders for blister packs are impractical for handling a wide variety of pharmaceutical product forms due to the need for extensive re-tooling to accommodate different shapes and sizes, making them costly and inefficient for small quantity dispensing in diverse environments.
Innovation Solution
A product feeding apparatus with adjustable aperture sizes and a versatile design that uses a surface with channels that taper and a movable wall to accommodate various product forms, along with a discharge gate mechanism and vibrating means to ensure efficient delivery into blister packs without requiring multiple sets of tooling components.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If automatic feeders are designed to handle specific product forms, then filling precision is improved, but device complexity and re-tooling requirements increase when handling different product forms
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a universal feeding apparatus where the repository and channel system can accommodate multiple product forms (tablets, capsules, caplets, suppositories, ointment tubes) without requiring complete re-tooling. The adjustable aperture and channel dimensions allow the same machine to handle diverse pharmaceutical products, eliminating the need for 300+ sets of re-tooled components while maintaining accurate filling precision for each product type.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs adjustable and movable components including variable aperture sizes, reconfigurable channel dimensions, and movable repository walls that can be dynamically adjusted to match different product forms and sizes. This dynamic adaptability allows the feeding apparatus to transition between handling different pharmaceutical products without permanent re-tooling, resolving the contradiction between precision and complexity.
2Reliability
If customised feeding machines are designed for each product form, then filling reliability is improved, but loss of time and productivity decrease due to re-tooling requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The universal feeding machine design allows rapid switching between different pharmaceutical product forms by adjusting aperture and channel dimensions rather than physically re-tooling the entire system. This eliminates the time loss associated with changing 300+ sets of components while maintaining the filling reliability needed for each specific product type through optimized channel geometry and aperture sizing.
Solution Approach 2:
The system pre-configures multiple channel templates and aperture settings that can be quickly selected and adjusted for different product forms. By having pre-designed channel geometries stored in the system, the machine can rapidly switch between products without time-consuming re-tooling operations, thus maintaining reliability while minimizing downtime.
3Adaptability or versatility
If adjustable aperture channels are used, then adaptability is improved, but device complexity increases due to movable components
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the feeding apparatus into modular segments including separate repository sections, individual adjustable channels, and independent aperture controls. This segmentation allows each component to be adjusted independently for different product forms without affecting the entire system, making the adaptability features more manageable and less complex than a fully integrated adjustable system.
Solution Approach 2:
The design employs nested structures where adjustable components are integrated within the existing machine framework. The movable repository walls and adjustable channel dimensions are nested within the fixed machine housing, allowing adaptability features to be compact and integrated rather than adding external complexity to the system.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables a single machine to fill blister packs with diverse product forms, such as tablets and capsules, without the need for extensive re-tooling, improving efficiency and reducing costs by allowing adaptation to different sizes and shapes using a single set of components.
Implementation Method 1
the surface be agitated by vibrating means so as to shake items of product along the channels towards their exits
Data Source
AI summary
Automatic feeding machines are commonly used for filling blister packs with items of product such as pharmaceutical dosage forms. These machines are usually designed for the handling of a specific shape and sized product item. Handling of different shaped items requires expensive re-tooling of all the product item contact components. The invention allows a single feeding machine to be quickly configured for use to handling a wide variety of item sizes/shapes. A machine (21) has a tray (36) defining a series of tapered channels (40) and a container (22) slideably mounted above the tray. A wall of the container and the channels together define apertures into each channel through which items of product pass out of the container. Sliding movement of the container across the planar tray surface (38), along and over the channels, allows the size of the apertures to be adjusted depending upon the size of the item of product to be handled, using the same components.