Pill press machines use force to compact and compress powder thereby transforming granules or powder into small tablets. Currently, the machines are handy in many tablet drug manufacturing companies globally.
For an optimal production process, you must understand all the critical aspects in the pill press machine design.
This guide covers some fundamental design aspects you should consider.
Key Design Consideration for Pill Maker Machines
When designing a tablet press machine, there are many variables you must consider. However, some key design aspects include:
- Purpose of the machine (pill manufacturing process)
- Choosing safe material for machine design
- Know and identify pill press machine parts
- Know how the pill press machine works
- Consider assembling the machine and safety features
Let’s explore these design elements in detail:
1. Purpose of the Machine–Pill Manufacturing Process
In most cases, the words tablet press machine and pill press machine virtually mean the same thing. Therefore, even as you shop for these machines, it is important to note that it:
- Feeds processed powder into the tooling systems
- Produces tablet (pill) as the end product due to certain external forces acting on the material
Well, this is only possible when you understand the basic equipment design principle. Adopting the best pill press design principle will help you reduce costs, improve efficiency, and produce high-quality pills.
Understanding the purpose of the machine will help you evaluate:
- Load the machine must withstand for normal operations. These include load due to powder and other machine parts. Therefore, the machine must have a stable and strong base.
- Forces the machine will be subjected to during the pill compression process. These may include rotary movements, compressive forces, impact forces, vibratory forces, and other motions that will help move the tooling system and material.
All these form critical elements in pill-making machine design analysis. They form the basis for choosing material and machine reinforcement requirements.
2. Choosing Safe Material for Machine Design
You can manufacture pill-pressing machine parts using different materials. However, parts that are always in direct contact with the product require special materials.
In most cases, food-grade 304 stainless steel or 316 stainless steel is a perfect choice for such sections.
However, other sections such as the tooling system (die and punches) may require specialized materials or coating. Usually, such treatments increase the service lifespan and efficiency of the machine.
Additionally, they must resist the impact during the tableting process.
3. Know and Identify Pill Press, Machine Parts
Ideally, even the simplest pill stamp press is an assembly of many parts and components. The design may vary depending on the customization requirements for the pill press machine design.
In pill stamp press, one of the most critical design areas is the tooling system. The tooling system comprises the pill die set and pill die punches.
The pill press dies and punches will determine the shape of your pills. Although you can opt for custom designs, there are set standards for tooling design and configuration.
When it comes to standardization, you can opt for either:
- Tablet Specification Manual tooling requirements
- Euro Standard Specification tooling requirements
The table below shows a summary of standard specifications you can adopt when designing die and punch sets for your pill stamp press.
Other critical components in your tablet pill compression machine are:
| Parts of Pill Machine | Functions |
| Hopper | · Come in different shapes/designs
· You will place raw material (powder) for pill or tablet compression |
| Feeding system | · Feeds powder to the tooling system
· Both the feeder housing and feed peddles form part of the pill or tablet compression machine feeding system |
| Tooling system | · Both die and punches form the main tooling system
· They shape powder to form a suitable pill design · Most machine designs feature upper punch and lower punch system · Dies have special cavities that help in powder compression to form the best pill designs |
| Turret system | · It features a rotating design
· The turret holds the die system · The system rotates to help in the pill compression process |
| Cam tracks | · They guide both the lower punches and upper punches during the pill compression process |
| Weighing and filling station | · An important quality control system
· Ensures only the right powder quantity fills the die cavity for compression · Design accuracy ensures the tables have consistent size and weight |
| Compression rollers | · Rollers help in compressing powder to form the best pill sizes and weights besides expelling air that could compromise quality
· Most pill-making machines have pre-compression rollers and main compression rollers |
| Pill ejection cam | · Help remove compressed pills from the tooling system |
| Discharge chute | · Directs the compressed pills to the collection bin |
| Control stems | · It has preprogrammed software, HMI, and other control features. They help configure and monitor the pill compression process |
Note: The design of every component must allow for an optimal pill manufacturing process. That is, it must reduce wastage, and guarantee accuracy.
Additionally, there are other process variables that determine part design. For example, configuring punch head design depends on compression profile, dwell time, and contact time, among other variables
By designing these machine parts for your pill manufacturing process, you will get high-quality tablets.
In short, you need a critical part design analysis to get the most efficient pill manufacturing machine.
4. How Pill Press Machine Works
The pill-making machine design will determine accuracy, production capacity, and efficiency. Broadly, we have two machines:
- Manual pill press machines – they are affordable thou suitable for low production capacity. In these machines, the operator will handle all the processes.
- Automatic pill press machine – it is an expensive machine where most operations are fully automated. They are suitable for high-capacity production.
These two machines have completely different designs. The manual pill-making machine has a simple design with very few parts. This is not the case for automatic pill maker machines whose designs are relatively complex. Most rotary tablet press machines feature this complex design.
We can explore the pill press machinery further to compare single-punch machines and multi-punch machines.
Let’s compare these two types of tableting press machine designs:
| Single Punch Tablet Press Machine | Multi-punch Tablet Press Machine |
| · They are also called eccentric press machines or single-station pill press machines
· Has a single tooling slot for pill or tablet compression · Available as manual or powered machines · Best for small-scale pill production |
· They can also be referred to as rotary pill press machines
· Have numerous tooling systems for high-scale production · Mainly available as automated systems · Perfect for pharmaceutical · Popular for high efficiency though the initial cost is relatively high |
Even with the varying designs in tablet press machines, how to press solid pills remains virtually the same:
- Add the powder you want to compress to the machine
- Choose the right tooling system (punch and die)
- Let the powder flow to the tooling system
- Compress powder to make pills of the desired shape and quality
- Eject the compressed pills from the tooling system
- Inspect the pills to ensure they meet the right quality requirement
Only a pill compression machine designed to the right specification will guarantee the best outcome.
5. Ease of Assembly and Safety
The pill tablet press machine should be easy to assemble. Most pill compressing machines feature modular designs. Alternatively, they also come as fully assembled machines from the company.
Usually, the form in which the pill press machine comes depends on the machine size.
Furthermore, the machine should have safety features that prevent product contamination. Additionally, the machine should come with an automatic switching-off mechanism in case of any faults. For instance, the machine should have an overload protection mechanism and alarm systems in case of any faults.
Other interlocking mechanisms may be necessary to ensure safety.
Apart from these key 5 aspects mentioned above, other critical pill press machine design features include:
- cGMP and FDA-compliant machine
- Easy to clean and maintain design
- Ability to change tooling systems for varying pill designs and shapes
- Design should reduce or minimize wastage
- Intelligent control systems design with fully integrated PLC systems to monitor and control various machine operations
Let SaintyCo Help you Design the Best Pill Maker in the Industry
If you are looking for the best pill maker, then SaintyCo has a perfect solution for you. We are a trusted tablet pill press-making machine in China. Our machines boast of:
- Easy operation and maintenance
- Available in many designs and configurations
- You can choose small-scale to high-scale production
- Flexible tooling systems for different pill designs and shapes
You don’t have to worry about how much a spill press cost, SaintyCo offer competitive prices on all tabling machines – talk to us now.
More Resources:
Tablet Compression Machine Parts – Source: SaintyCo
Tablet Press – Source: Wikipedia
Tablet Press Machines – Source: SaintyCo