Title of Invention	DEVICE FOR METERING AND DISPENSING POWDER INTO HARD GELATIN CAPSULES OR THE LIKE
Abstract	A device (10) for metering and dispensing (1) into hard Powder gelatin capsules or the like has a fillingmaterial container (11) which is rotated in ste s, (13), which interact with p Bores packing rams (21) or transfer rams (22), are formed in the base (12) of the fillingmaterial container (11), A deflection member (23) is arranged in the region of the transfer rams (22). The particular shape of the filling-material container results in the formation of an intermediate Ch (11) between the deflection me amber (30) (18) of nnber (23) and a wall section the filling-material intermediate chamber container (11), which provides the bores (13) downstream of the deflection member (23) with sufficient powder (1) ' The device (10) according to the invention has a high metering accuracy and level of performance.

Title of Invention

DEVICE FOR METERING AND DISPENSING POWDER INTO HARD GELATIN CAPSULES OR THE LIKE

Abstract

A device (10) for metering and dispensing (1) into hard Powder gelatin capsules or the like has a fillingmaterial container (11) which is rotated in ste s, (13), which interact with p Bores packing rams (21) or transfer rams (22), are formed in the base (12) of the fillingmaterial container (11), A deflection member (23) is arranged in the region of the transfer rams (22). The particular shape of the filling-material container results in the formation of an intermediate Ch (11) between the deflection me amber (30) (18) of nnber (23) and a wall section the filling-material intermediate chamber container (11), which provides the bores (13) downstream of the deflection member (23) with sufficient powder (1) ' The device (10) according to the invention has a high metering accuracy and level of performance.

Full Text	ROBERT BOSCH QMBHr~-7-»4A2-^JL.uttgart Device for metering and dispensing powder into hard-gelatin capsules or the like Prior art The invention relates to a device for metering and dispensing powder into hard gelatin capsules or the like in accordance with the preamble of Claim 1. Known devices of this kind have a pot-shaped filling-material container, in the base of whi^h^BL^e formed a plurality of groups of bores, ^ich earn interact with packing rams which can be moved up and down and are combined to form packing-ram stations. A mating holder, in the form of a ring, is provided beneath the filling-material container and aligned with the packing rams, so that powder compacts are formed by the packing rams, which penetrate into the bores, in the stationary phases of the filling-material container, which is rotated in steps- The powder compacts formed in this way are pushed, by means of transfer rams, into capsule lower parts provided beneath the bores, during a further stationary phase of the filling-material container. In order to prevent loose powder, which is pushed into the capsule lower parts together with the powder compacts, from accumulating above the powder compacts, the transfer rams are surrounded by a powder deflector. In order to be able to achieve as high a level of performance as possible for a given filling-material container size, the bores for the packing and transfer rams are all arranged close to the container wall of the filling-material container. Consequently it is possible to achieve the largest possible number of bores and packing rams at each packing-ram station. Owing to the arrangement of the bores close to the container wall, the powder deflector, which surrounds the transfer rams and displaces the powder, leads to the problem that the bores of the first packing-ram station i which are arranged immediately after the powder deflector are not provided with sufficient powder, or are not provided with uniform amounts of powder. This results in metering inaccuracies, which results in having to reduce the number of bores at the packing-ram station downstream of the powder deflector, and thus inevitably at all packing-ram stations, in order to achieve the desired metering accuracy. Advantages of the invention By contrast, the device according to the invention for metering and dispensing powder into hard gelatin capsules or the like, having the characterizing features of Claim 1, has the advantage that for a given filling-material container size it is possible to achieve a high level of performance while maintaining a high metering accuracy. Further advantages and advantageous refinements ff of the device according to the invention for metering and j dispensing powder into hard gelatin capsules or the likei emerge from the subclaims and the description. A guide element in the filling-material container allows powder to be supplied in a controlled manner to individual bores, as a result of which the performance is additionally increased. In order to create additional space for devices interacting with the metering container, it is advantageous partially to form the base of the filling-material container at a higher position at its outer region. Drawing An exemplary embodiment of the invention is depicted in the drawing, and is explained in more detail in the following description. Figure 1 shows a longitudinal section through a device for metering and dispensing powder into hard gelatin capsules or the like, and Figure 2 shows a filling-material container in a section in the plane II-II of Figure 1. Description of the exemplary embodiment The device 10, depicted in Figure 1, for metering and dispensing powder 1 into hard gelatin capsules or the like has a filling-material container 11 for the powder 1, which container is of pot-shaped design and can be rotated in steps. The filling-material container 11 has a disc-like base 12, in which are formed four groups 2 to 5, each with five bores 13. The centres of the bores 13 of each group 2 to 5 are in each case arranged on a straight line, and the groups 2 to 5 are each situated offset by 90 degrees with respect to one another in an outer region of the base 12. The base 12 is surrounded by a casing 15, which inside the filling-material container 11 forms a region 16 which is ring-shaped and is at a higher position than the base 12. This is achieved by the fact that the casing 15 has two vertically arranged wall sections 17, 18, which are connected to one another by means of a horizontally arranged base section 19. As a result, the filling-material container 11 has a smaller diameter in the region of the first wall section 17 than in the region of the second wall section 18. Above and aligned with the bores 13 are arranged three groups of packing rams 21 in three packing-ram stations and a group of transfer rams 22 in a transfer station. Both the packing rams 21 and the transfer rams 22 are designed such that they can be moved up and down by means of means which are known per se, and are therefore not illustrated, so that the rams penetrate into the bores 13 during the respective stationary phases of the filling-material container 11. In the region of the filling-material container 11, the transfer rams 22 are surrounded by a powder-deflection member 23 of fixed location. The powder-deflection member 23, the cross-section of which is in the shape of a segment of a circle and which extends as far as diredtly against the base 12 of the filling-material container 11, has a first wall 24, which is matched to the profile of the first wall section 17 of the casing 15 in a positively-locking manner and virtually without any gap, whereas a second wall 2 6 of the deflection member 2 3 lies parallel to a straight line 27 on which the bores 13 of the transfer rams 22 are arranged. An intermediate chamber 3 0 for the powder 1 is formed between the first wall 24 of the powder-deflection member 23 and the second wall section 18 of the filling-material container 11, the width of which intermediate chamber corresponds to the width of the base section 19 of the filling-material container 11. The group 2 of bores 13 and packing rams 21 which is immediately downstream of the powder-deflection member 23 in the clockwise direction is assigned a powder guide plate 31 which is of fixed location, is arranged in the region of the base section 19 of the filling-material container 11 and extends virtually as far as this base section. The powder guide plate 31 is arranged such that it runs parallel to and behind its associated bores 13 and, when the filling-material container 11 is rotated in the clockwise direction, guides the powder 1 situated in the intermediate chamber 3 0 at least partially into a region between the bores 13 and the wall section 18 facing it. On its underside 32, the filling-material container 11 is fixedly connected to a shaft 33, which is rotated in steps by a drive motor (not shown) . In the region in which the bores 13 are also formed in the base 12, the underside 32 of the filling-material container 11 is covered by an intermediate ring 34, which ends at the underside 32 of the filling-material container 11 virtually without any gap. A segment 35, in which are formed bores 3 6 for capsule lower parts 6, can be pivoted in beneath the filling-material container 11 in the region of the powder-deflection member 23 • The arrangement of the bores 3 6 in the segment 3 5 corresponds to the arrangement of the bores 13 and of the transfer rams 22. The above-described device 10 for metering and dispensing powder 1 into hard gelatin capsules or the like operates as follows: the filling-material container 11, which is filled with powder 1, is rotated cyclically in the clockwise direction by means of the shaft 33, in each case through one division, i.e. in the exemplary embodiment through in each case 90 degrees. In the process, the powder 1 is moved below the respective group of packing rams 21, which in the following stationary phase of the filling-material container 11 penetrate into the bores 13, thus forming powder compacts in the bores 13. Due to the fact that powder 1 passes into the intermediate chamber 3 0 between the powder-deflection member 23 and the wall section 18 when the filling-material container 11 is rotated, the group 2 of bores 13 which is immediately downstream of the powder-deflection member 23 is always provided or covered with sufficient powder 1. This powder 1 comes at least in part from the intermediate chamber 3 0 and can additionally be fed in a controlled manner to individual bores 13 of the group 2 by means of the powder guide plate 31. After the bores 13 have been pivoted beneath the powder-deflection member 23, the powder compacts formed in this way are transferred into the prepared capsule lower parts 6 in the segment 3 5 by means of the transfer rams 22. The segment 35 is then pivoted out of the area of the device 10, so that another segment 3 5 containing empty capsule lower parts 6 can be pivoted beneath the transfer rams 22. It should additionally be noted that the device 10 or the filling-material container 11 can be modified in a wide variety of manners. For example, in particular it is conceivable and even customary to provide a greater number of groups with bores 13 than three groups 2, 3, 4 of bores 13, and thus also a greater number of packing-ram stations. In this case too, the particular design of the filling-material container 11 is better able to supply powder 1 to the group of bores 13 which is immediately downstream of the powder-deflection member 23, so that the metering accuracy is increased. Furthermore, it is pointed out that the height of the wall sections 17, 18 of the casing 15 is determined by the devices interacting with the filling-material container 11. However, the lower the base section 19 can be arranged with regard to the base 12, the better is the supply of powder 1 to the group of bores 13 which is immediately downstream of the powder-deflection member 23. 1. Device (10) for metering and dispensing powder (1) into hard gelatin capsules or the like, having a cyclically rotatable filling-material container (11) for the powder (1) ' , in the base (12) of which are formed groups (2 to 5) with bores (13) for the powder (1) , having packing rams (21) which can be inserted into and retracted from the bores (13) in order to form powder compacts, and having transfer rams (22), which are surrounded by a deflection element (23) for the powder (1), for transferring the powder compacts into prepared capsule lower parts (6), characterized in that an inter mediate chamber (3 0) for the powder (1) is formed between a surrounding wall (15) of the filling-material container (11) and the deflection element (23), so that the powder (1) situated in the intermediate chamber (30) can be supplied to the area of the first group (2) of bores (13) downstream of the deflection element (23) in the conveying direction of the powder (1). 2. Device according to Claim 1, characterized in that the surrounding wall (15) comprises two vertically arranged wall sections (17, 18), which are connected to one another by means of an annular intermediate base (19), so that the intermediate base (19) is arranged at a higher position than the base (12) , and that the intermediate chamber (3 0) is formed above the inter mediate base (19). 3• Device according to Claim 1 or 2, characterized in that a guide element (31) for the powder (1) is assigned to the first group (2) of bores (13). 4. Device according to Claim 2 or 3, characterized in that the deflection element (23) is designed in the form of a segment of a circle and has a side (24) facing the surrounding wall (15) of the filling-material container (11), which side, at the level of the first wall section (17) of the wall (15) # runs virtually adjacent to the first wall section (17) without a gap and, at the level of the second wall section (18) of the wall (15), runs at a distance from the second wall section (18) , thus forming the intermediate chamber (30) .

Full Text

ROBERT BOSCH QMBHr~-7-»4A2-^JL.uttgart
Device for metering and dispensing powder into hard-gelatin capsules or the like
Prior art
The invention relates to a device for metering and dispensing powder into hard gelatin capsules or the like in accordance with the preamble of Claim 1. Known devices of this kind have a pot-shaped filling-material container, in the base of whi^h^BL^e formed a plurality of groups of bores, ^ich earn interact with packing rams which can be moved up and down and are combined to form packing-ram stations. A mating holder, in the form of a ring, is provided beneath the filling-material container and aligned with the packing rams, so that powder compacts are formed by the packing rams, which penetrate into the bores, in the stationary phases of the filling-material container, which is rotated in steps- The powder compacts formed in this way are pushed, by means of transfer rams, into capsule lower parts provided beneath the bores, during a further stationary phase of the filling-material container. In order to prevent loose powder, which is pushed into the capsule lower parts together with the powder compacts, from accumulating above the powder compacts, the transfer rams are surrounded by a powder deflector. In order to be able to achieve as high a level of performance as possible for a given filling-material container size, the bores for the packing and transfer rams are all arranged close to the container wall of the filling-material container. Consequently it is possible to achieve the largest possible number of bores and packing rams at each packing-ram station.
Owing to the arrangement of the bores close to

the container wall, the powder deflector, which surrounds the transfer rams and displaces the powder, leads to the
problem that the bores of the first packing-ram station
i
which are arranged immediately after the powder deflector are not provided with sufficient powder, or are not provided with uniform amounts of powder. This results in metering inaccuracies, which results in having to reduce the number of bores at the packing-ram station downstream of the powder deflector, and thus inevitably at all packing-ram stations, in order to achieve the desired metering accuracy.
Advantages of the invention
By contrast, the device according to the invention for metering and dispensing powder into hard gelatin capsules or the like, having the characterizing features of Claim 1, has the advantage that for a given filling-material container size it is possible to achieve a high level of performance while maintaining a high metering accuracy.
Further advantages and advantageous refinements ff of the device according to the invention for metering and j dispensing powder into hard gelatin capsules or the likei emerge from the subclaims and the description.
A guide element in the filling-material container allows powder to be supplied in a controlled manner to individual bores, as a result of which the performance is additionally increased.
In order to create additional space for devices interacting with the metering container, it is advantageous partially to form the base of the filling-material container at a higher position at its outer region.
Drawing
An exemplary embodiment of the invention is depicted in the drawing, and is explained in more detail in the following description. Figure 1 shows a longitudinal section through a device for metering and dispensing

powder into hard gelatin capsules or the like, and Figure 2 shows a filling-material container in a section in the plane II-II of Figure 1.
Description of the exemplary embodiment
The device 10, depicted in Figure 1, for metering and dispensing powder 1 into hard gelatin capsules or the like has a filling-material container 11 for the powder 1, which container is of pot-shaped design and can be rotated in steps. The filling-material container 11 has a disc-like base 12, in which are formed four groups 2 to 5, each with five bores 13. The centres of the bores 13 of each group 2 to 5 are in each case arranged on a straight line, and the groups 2 to 5 are each situated offset by 90 degrees with respect to one another in an outer region of the base 12. The base 12 is surrounded by a casing 15, which inside the filling-material container 11 forms a region 16 which is ring-shaped and is at a higher position than the base 12. This is achieved by the fact that the casing 15 has two vertically arranged wall sections 17, 18, which are connected to one another by means of a horizontally arranged base section 19. As a result, the filling-material container 11 has a smaller diameter in the region of the first wall section 17 than in the region of the second wall section 18.
Above and aligned with the bores 13 are arranged three groups of packing rams 21 in three packing-ram stations and a group of transfer rams 22 in a transfer station. Both the packing rams 21 and the transfer rams 22 are designed such that they can be moved up and down by means of means which are known per se, and are therefore not illustrated, so that the rams penetrate into the bores 13 during the respective stationary phases of the filling-material container 11. In the region of the filling-material container 11, the transfer rams 22 are surrounded by a powder-deflection member 23 of fixed location. The powder-deflection member 23, the cross-section of which is in the shape of a segment of a circle and which extends as far as diredtly against the base 12

of the filling-material container 11, has a first wall 24, which is matched to the profile of the first wall section 17 of the casing 15 in a positively-locking manner and virtually without any gap, whereas a second wall 2 6 of the deflection member 2 3 lies parallel to a straight line 27 on which the bores 13 of the transfer rams 22 are arranged. An intermediate chamber 3 0 for the powder 1 is formed between the first wall 24 of the powder-deflection member 23 and the second wall section 18 of the filling-material container 11, the width of which intermediate chamber corresponds to the width of the base section 19 of the filling-material container 11.
The group 2 of bores 13 and packing rams 21 which is immediately downstream of the powder-deflection member 23 in the clockwise direction is assigned a powder guide plate 31 which is of fixed location, is arranged in the region of the base section 19 of the filling-material container 11 and extends virtually as far as this base section. The powder guide plate 31 is arranged such that it runs parallel to and behind its associated bores 13 and, when the filling-material container 11 is rotated in the clockwise direction, guides the powder 1 situated in the intermediate chamber 3 0 at least partially into a region between the bores 13 and the wall section 18 facing it.
On its underside 32, the filling-material container 11 is fixedly connected to a shaft 33, which is rotated in steps by a drive motor (not shown) . In the region in which the bores 13 are also formed in the base 12, the underside 32 of the filling-material container 11 is covered by an intermediate ring 34, which ends at the underside 32 of the filling-material container 11 virtually without any gap. A segment 35, in which are formed bores 3 6 for capsule lower parts 6, can be pivoted in beneath the filling-material container 11 in the region of the powder-deflection member 23 • The arrangement of the bores 3 6 in the segment 3 5 corresponds to the arrangement of the bores 13 and of the transfer rams 22.
The above-described device 10 for metering and

dispensing powder 1 into hard gelatin capsules or the like operates as follows: the filling-material container 11, which is filled with powder 1, is rotated cyclically in the clockwise direction by means of the shaft 33, in each case through one division, i.e. in the exemplary embodiment through in each case 90 degrees. In the process, the powder 1 is moved below the respective group of packing rams 21, which in the following stationary phase of the filling-material container 11 penetrate into the bores 13, thus forming powder compacts in the bores 13.
Due to the fact that powder 1 passes into the intermediate chamber 3 0 between the powder-deflection member 23 and the wall section 18 when the filling-material container 11 is rotated, the group 2 of bores 13 which is immediately downstream of the powder-deflection member 23 is always provided or covered with sufficient powder 1. This powder 1 comes at least in part from the intermediate chamber 3 0 and can additionally be fed in a controlled manner to individual bores 13 of the group 2 by means of the powder guide plate 31.
After the bores 13 have been pivoted beneath the powder-deflection member 23, the powder compacts formed in this way are transferred into the prepared capsule lower parts 6 in the segment 3 5 by means of the transfer rams 22. The segment 35 is then pivoted out of the area of the device 10, so that another segment 3 5 containing empty capsule lower parts 6 can be pivoted beneath the transfer rams 22.
It should additionally be noted that the device 10 or the filling-material container 11 can be modified in a wide variety of manners. For example, in particular it is conceivable and even customary to provide a greater number of groups with bores 13 than three groups 2, 3, 4 of bores 13, and thus also a greater number of packing-ram stations. In this case too, the particular design of the filling-material container 11 is better able to supply powder 1 to the group of bores 13 which is immediately downstream of the powder-deflection member

23, so that the metering accuracy is increased. Furthermore, it is pointed out that the height of the wall sections 17, 18 of the casing 15 is determined by the devices interacting with the filling-material container 11. However, the lower the base section 19 can be arranged with regard to the base 12, the better is the supply of powder 1 to the group of bores 13 which is immediately downstream of the powder-deflection member 23.

1. Device (10) for metering and dispensing powder
(1) into hard gelatin capsules or the like, having a
cyclically rotatable filling-material container (11) for
the powder (1) ' , in the base (12) of which are formed
groups (2 to 5) with bores (13) for the powder (1) ,
having packing rams (21) which can be inserted into and
retracted from the bores (13) in order to form powder
compacts, and having transfer rams (22), which are
surrounded by a deflection element (23) for the powder
(1), for transferring the powder compacts into prepared
capsule lower parts (6), characterized in that an inter
mediate chamber (3 0) for the powder (1) is formed
between a surrounding wall (15) of the filling-material
container (11) and the deflection element (23), so that
the powder (1) situated in the intermediate chamber (30)
can be supplied to the area of the first group (2) of
bores (13) downstream of the deflection element (23) in
the conveying direction of the powder (1).
2. Device according to Claim 1, characterized in
that the surrounding wall (15) comprises two vertically
arranged wall sections (17, 18), which are connected to
one another by means of an annular intermediate base
(19), so that the intermediate base (19) is arranged at
a higher position than the base (12) , and that the
intermediate chamber (3 0) is formed above the inter
mediate base (19).
3• Device according to Claim 1 or 2, characterized in that a guide element (31) for the powder (1) is assigned to the first group (2) of bores (13). 4. Device according to Claim 2 or 3, characterized in that the deflection element (23) is designed in the form of a segment of a circle and has a side (24) facing

the surrounding wall (15) of the filling-material container (11), which side, at the level of the first wall section (17) of the wall (15) # runs virtually adjacent to the first wall section (17) without a gap and, at the level of the second wall section (18) of the wall (15), runs at a distance from the second wall section (18) , thus forming the intermediate chamber (30) .

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Patent Number

207977

Indian Patent Application Number

2260/MAS/1997

PG Journal Number

30/2007

Publication Date

27-Jul-2007

Grant Date

02-Jul-2007

Date of Filing

13-Oct-1997

Name of Patentee

M/S. ROBERT BOSCH GMBH

Applicant Address

POSTFACH 30 02 20 D 70442 STUTTGART.

Inventors:

#	Inventor's Name	Inventor's Address
1	WERNE RUNFT	D-71364 WINNENDEN.

PCT International Classification Number

A 61 B 01/36

PCT International Application Number

N/A

PCT International Filing date

PCT Conventions:

#	PCT Application Number	Date of Convention	Priority Country
1	196 51 237.9	1996-12-10	Germany