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DE-102024133206-A1 - Rotary press and use of a rotary press

DE102024133206A1DE 102024133206 A1DE102024133206 A1DE 102024133206A1DE-102024133206-A1

Abstract

Rotary press comprising a rotor rotatable by means of a rotary drive, wherein the rotor has an upper ram guide for upper press rams and a lower ram guide for lower press rams, as well as a die disc arranged between the ram guides, wherein the press rams interact with cavities of the die disc, wherein the rotary press further comprises a filling device by which powder material to be compressed is filled into the cavities of the die disc, and wherein the rotary press comprises a pressure device with an upper pressure unit and a lower pressure unit which, in operation, interact with the upper press rams and with the lower press rams to compress the powder material in the cavities of the die disc into pellets, and wherein the rotary press comprises a stripping device for stripping pellets ejected after compression by the lower press rams onto the top of the die disc into a first pellet conveyor, and wherein the rotary press comprises a sorting device for individually sorting pellets into a second pellet conveyor, characterized in that the sorting device has a sorting drive and a The sorting drive comprises a sorting element movable between a sorting position and a rest position, wherein the sorting element is located in a conveying path of the compacts to the first compact output in the sorting position and directs compacts from the conveying path to the second compact output, and that the sorting drive comprises an electric motor with a magnet driven by a stator of the electric motor, wherein the magnet translates its drive movement into a drive movement of the sorting element with a higher drive speed via a transmission element of the sorting drive.

Inventors

  • Michael Markl
  • Thomas Pannewitz

Assignees

  • FETTE COMPACTING GMBH

Dates

Publication Date
20260513
Application Date
20241113

Claims (15)

  1. Rotary press comprising a rotor rotatable by means of a rotary drive, the rotor having an upper punch guide (18) for upper press punches (14) and a lower punch guide (20) for lower press punches (16), and a die disk (10) arranged between the punch guides (18, 20), the press punches (14, 16) interacting with cavities (12) of the die disk (10), the rotary press further comprising a filling device (26) by which powder material to be compressed is filled into the cavities (12) of the die disk (10), and the rotary press comprising a pressure device (34) with an upper pressure unit (40) and a lower pressure unit (42) which, in operation, engage with the upper press punches (14) and with the lower press punches (16) to compress the powder material in the cavities (12) of the die disk (10) into pellets. (48) cooperate, and wherein the rotary press comprises a stripping device (44) for stripping the compacts (48) ejected after compression by the lower press punches (16) onto the top of the die disk (10) into a first compact discharge (58), and wherein the rotary press comprises a sorting device for individually sorting compacts (48) into a second compact discharge, characterized in that the sorting device comprises a sorting drive (54) and a sorting element movable by the sorting drive (54) between a sorting position and a rest position, wherein the sorting element is located in a conveying path of the compacts (48) to the first compact discharge (58) in the sorting position and directs compacts (48) from the conveying path into the second compact discharge, and wherein the sorting drive (54) comprises an electric motor (54) with a magnet driven by a stator of the electric motor (54), wherein the magnet transmits its drive movement via a transmission element of the sorting drive (54) into a drive movement of the sorting element is translated with a higher drive speed.
  2. Rotary press Claim 1 , characterized in that the sorting element comprises a sorting lever (66, 74) which can be pivoted between the sorting position and the rest position.
  3. Rotary press Claim 2 , characterized in that a pivot axis of the pivotable sorting lever (66, 74) runs parallel or perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the die disk (10).
  4. Rotary press Claim 1 , characterized in that the sorting element comprises a sorting wheel (90) rotatable between the sorting position and the rest position with at least one sorting wing (92).
  5. Rotary press Claim 4 , characterized in that an axis of rotation of the rotatable sorting wheel (90) runs parallel or perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the die disk (10).
  6. Rotary press according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the magnet moves the translation element translationally, wherein the translational movement of the translation element is transferred to the sorting element for movement between the sorting position and the rest position.
  7. Rotary press Claim 6 , characterized in that the translation element has a translation bolt (60) with a rack section (62), wherein the rack section (62) engages with a gear (64, 82) connected to the sorting element in order to transmit a translational movement of the translation bolt (60) into a pivoting movement or a rotary movement of the sorting element.
  8. Rotary press according to the Claims 7 and 2 , characterized in that the translation element has a translation projection (80) engaging in an elongated hole (78) of the sorting lever (74), wherein the magnet translationally drives the translation projection (80) to pivot the sorting lever (74) between the sorting position and the rest position in a direction extending at an angle to the longitudinal axis of the elongated hole (78).
  9. Rotary press according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the magnet maintains the same distance to the stator throughout its entire rotary or translational movement.
  10. Rotary press Claim 9 , characterized in that the magnet is mounted so as to be rotatorily or translationally movable relative to the stator by means of a sliding bearing and a spring element.
  11. Rotary press according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the rotary press comprises a control device (52) and a position sensor, wherein the position sensor detects the rotational position of each cavity (12) of the die disk (10), wherein the position values detected by the position sensor are available at the control device (52), and that the control device (52) is configured to control the sorting drive (54) for moving the sorting element between the sorting position and the rest position to be controlled depending on the position values detected by the position sensor.
  12. Rotary press Claim 11 , characterized in that the sorting device includes a sorting element sensor for detecting the sorting position and/or the rest position of the sorting element, wherein the position values detected by the sorting element sensor are available at the control device (52), and that the control device (52) is configured to control the sorting drive (54) for moving the sorting element between the sorting position and the rest position depending on the position values detected by the sorting element sensor.
  13. Rotary press according to one of the Claims 11 or 12 , characterized in that the control device (52) is further configured to control the sorting drive (54) for moving the sorting element between the sorting position and the rest position, depending on a sorting signal from at least one pressing quality sensor of the rotary press.
  14. Use of a rotary press according to one of the preceding claims for sorting individual pellets (48) into the second pellet discharge.
  15. Use according Claim 14 , characterized in that the rotor of the rotary press is driven at a speed of at least 80 revolutions per minute, in particular at least 100 revolutions per minute, for example up to 120 revolutions per minute.

Description

The invention relates to a rotary press comprising a rotor rotatable by means of a rotary drive, wherein the rotor has an upper punch guide for upper press punches and a lower punch guide for lower press punches, as well as a die disc arranged between the punch guides, wherein the press punches interact with cavities of the die disc, wherein the rotary press further comprises a filling device by which powder material to be compressed is filled into the cavities of the die disc, and wherein the rotary press comprises a pressure device with an upper pressure unit and a lower pressure unit which, in operation, interact with the upper press punches and with the lower press punches to compress the powder material in the cavities of the die disc into pellets, and wherein the rotary press comprises a stripping device for stripping pellets ejected onto the top of the die disc after compression by the lower press punches into a first pellet discharge, and wherein the rotary press comprises a sorting device for individually sorting pellets into a second pellet discharge. The invention also relates to the use of such a rotary press. Rotary presses typically incorporate a multitude of upper and lower press rams, each pair assigned to a cavity of a die. During operation, the upper and lower press rams rotate together with the die, their axial movement controlled by cams and guided by upper and lower ram guides. As the press rotates, the die passes through various sections of the rotary press: a filling unit, where powder material to be compressed is fed into the cavities of the die; and a compression unit, where the upper and lower press rams are typically pressed into the cavities by upper and lower pressure rollers to compress the powder material into pellets, such as tablets. Following the compression unit, the upper press rams are moved upwards out of the cavities, and the pellets formed in the cavities are pushed onto the top surface of the die by the lower press rams. Such rotary presses further include a stripping device for removing the pellets ejected onto the top of the die after the pressing process by the lower press rams. The stripping device may include a stripping channel, which is arranged at least partially above the die and directs the pellets ejected onto the top of the die from the rotating die beneath the stripping channel to a first pellet discharge. This first discharge may, for example, be for pellets identified as good. A second pressing line is provided, for example, for pressings identified as defective by sensors or for sampling pressings. A sorting device is provided to remove pressings from the flow of pressings moving towards the first pressing line. This sorting device, for example, uses measurement data from sensors integrated into the rotary press to direct pressings into the second pressing line. For instance, appropriate sensors can be used to monitor the pressing force during the pressing process. Based on the measurement data from a corresponding pressing force sensor, defective pressings can be identified and removed. Historically, attempts to sort tablets using mechanical sorting devices were made in rotary presses. This involved mechanically driving a deflecting element into a conveyor path carrying the tablets. However, such mechanical sorting devices proved too slow, making reliable individual sorting of tablets impossible, especially at the typically high rotational speeds of the die discs in rotary presses. Furthermore, these systems often had insufficient stroke length, meaning that, for example, tablets with a greater height could not be sorted. Pneumatic sorting devices are therefore commonly used in rotary presses, in which the pellets to be sorted are deflected into the second pellet feed by a jet of compressed air. The compressed air jet is generated by a sorting nozzle that can be connected to a compressed air source, with a controllable valve arranged in the line to the nozzle. Such sorting devices are known, for example, from DE 10 2005 005 012 B4 or DE 10 2016 101 028 B4 . Also DE 10 2013 202 975 A1 This describes a sorting device where sorting is achieved, for example, by means of a blast of air. Alternatively, sorting via a slide gate is mentioned. Compressed air-operated sorting devices have generally proven their worth and are the standard in rotary presses. Nevertheless, even pneumatically operated sorting systems can cause problems in some applications. For example, the compressed air jet can cause powder product in the pressing chamber of the rotary press to become airborne. or product dust may be released. This can lead to contamination of surrounding areas of the pressing chamber. Furthermore, in many applications, pharmaceutical-grade compressed air is required for the compressed air jet, which is a complex process. Moreover, even such sorting systems are too slow for the reliable sorting of individual pellets at very high rotor speeds. In addition, due to