Tablet compression machines are used to compress tablets in pharmaceutical industries and majority of the people are not aware of the names of various parts of the compression machine.
In this article we will learn briefly about all the important components or parts of the tablet compression machine which are given below.
- Hopper
- Feeder
- Punch
- Dies
- Turret
- Pressure Roller
- Cams
- Tail Over Die
- Discharging Chute
- Lubrication System
- HMI
Hopper
Hopper is one of the most important component of tablet compression machine and it is the first part of the compression machine which comes in direct contact with the product.
Hopper of the compression machine is the part where we add or load our product to start the tablet compression operation.
The hopper of compression machine is made of 316L stainless steel grade because it has direct contact with the product.
In conventional type of the compression machines the powders or granules flow from the hopper under the influence of gravity.
In advance type of the tablet compression machines a vibratory mechanism or rotating rod is installed with hoppers to ensure uniform flow of the powder or granules.
Feeder
Tablet compression machine feeder is another important component of the tablet compression machine.
The purpose of the feeder is to feed powders/granules to the die bore.The powders/granules from the hopper go to the feeder and from the feeder are filled into the die cavities.
A feeder has various housings and from these houses filling of die bore or die cavity is done.
In conventional type of tablet compression machines the powder or granules from the feeder are fed to the die cavities under the influence of gravity and in advance type of the tablet compression machines force feeders are installed having rotating fins to ensure uniform filling.
Punches
Punches are used to compress the tablets and act like the mold mean the size,shape & dimensions of the tablet depends upon the size and shape of the punches.
Two types of punches are used, one is known as an upper punch and other is known as a lower punch.These punches transmit the pressure from roller to the powder/granules filled in the die cavity and the tablet is compressed between the tips of upper punch and lower punch.
Punches are made of oil hardened non shrinkable (OHNS) stainless steel grade.
Punches are installed in the punch holders of the turret after proper verification.
Dies
Round shape structures having a cavity in the center are known as dies and the cavity is known as die bore or die cavity.The product to be compressed is filled in the die cavity.
Dies are made of high carbon high chromium stainless (HCHC) steel grade.
Various types of dies are used like tapered dies and lined dies.
Turret
Turret of the tablet compression machine is just like the heart of the compression machine.
When the turret rotates the tablet compression process is started.
Turret has the punch holders and the die table means all the dies are installed on the die table and punches are installed in the punch holders so when the turret revolves the compression is started.
Pressure Rollers
Pressure in tablet compression machines is applied by the pressure rollers.
Two types of pressure rollers are installed in compression machines,one is main pressure rollers and other one is pre compression pressure rollers.
Main pressure rollers are used to apply the main pressure to compress the tablets and pre compression wheels or rollers are used to remove the entrapped air to avoid tablet capping and lamination issues during the process of compression
Cams
Cams are also known as punch tracks and as the rail runs over the track in the same way cam tracks guide the punche for traveling. Various types of cams are installed in the compression machine like weight adjustment cam,ejection cam etc.
Tail Over Die
Tail over die is the scraper-like structure that is used to remove the excess powder from the die cavity after the weight adjustment stage.
Tail over die swipe the extra powder when lower punch pushes the extra powder out from the die cavity after weight adjustment.
Swipe Off Blades
Swipe off blade is a structure installed with the back side of a tablet compression machine feeder.
Swipe off blade is used to guide the tablets toward the discharging shute when tablets are ejected out of the die cavity .
Tablet after ejection strike with the swipe off blade and go toward the discharging chute from where these are collected into the container.
Discharging Chute
The discharging chute is made of 316L stainless steel grade and it is the parts of the compression machine through which tablets slide and fall into the container.
Lubrication System
Advanced types of compression machines have a lubrication system which automatically lubricates various main parts of the compression machine at specified time intervals during machine operation.
HMI
HMI is an abbreviation of human machine interface and is a touch screen system used to give the input feed to the compression machine.
All the commands to change or modify the parameters like speed, hardness,weight of tablets are fed through HMI.