Patent GB-564538-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in apparatus for making and filling capsules
IPC: A61J3/07
Filed: 1942-07-02
Abstract: 564,538. Medical and like capsules. SCHERER, R. P. July 2, 1942, No. 9153. [Class 81 (i)] In apparatus of the kind in which a pair of bands of capsule forming material are fed between die rolls having registering capsule-forming cavities, means is provided for moving one roll bodily to or from the other and/or for adjusting one roll endwise or angularly without disturbing the phase relationship between the rolls. The apparatus comprises rolls 20 mounted on shafts 50, 52 and a feeder head 40 supported for limited universal movement on boltheads 28. Bands 32 of capsule-forming material are passed between the arcuate faces of the head and the rolls and medicament is introduced through a passage 24 and emitted at the edge of the converging faces to enter the capsules as they are formed. Heating tubes for the head are shown at 41. The shafts 50, 52 are mounted in a housing 42 as shown in Fig. 5, the shaft 52 being the driving shaft and shaft 50 driven therefrom. One end of the shaft 52 is carried in a fixed bearing 56, the other forward end being provided with a removable extension 62 having a knob 64. The middle section of the shaft is journalled in a bearing 58 locked in a longitudinally adjustable sleeve 60. The roll is supported on the shaft by collars 68, 70, the collar 70 being fixed to the shaft by pins 72 entering recesses in a flange 74 on the shaft. The shaft 52 is adjustable axially and rotatively whereas the shaft 50 is adjustable sideways towards or away from shaft 52. To effect this adjustment of the shaft 50 it is mounted in journal blocks 84, 86 displaceable in slots in the framing. The mounting of the shaft 50 and the roll 20 thereon is similar to the corresponding mounting of the shaft 52. Spring means for urging the rolls together comprise leaf springs 89, 90 in the form of a cantilever, one end of the spring 89 being contacted by an adjusting screw 92. The rolls are adapted to be interchanged for the production of capsules of different sizes and to provide for this the frame member 48 in which the roll shafts are journalled is secured to the frame 42 at one end by a pin 100 which can be withdrawn to allow the member 48 to be moved outwardly to an extent permitted by a partially withdrawable pin 102, the member 48 carrying with it the pins 62, 76 and knobs 64, 78 of the shafts, so that it can be swung out of the way for replacement of the rolls. The shaft 52 is axially adjustable by rotation of a gear-wheel 112 on the sleeve 60 which has threaded engagement with a fixed ring 114 and is rotated by a pinion 116 turned by the application of a.tool from outside the casing. When adjusted, the pinion is locked by a pin 122. Relative angular adjustment of the rolls about the axis of rotation is provided by a cone clutch 126 on the shaft 52 which is locked after adjustment by a nut 130. The shaft 50 is driven from the shaft 52 by gear-wheels 134, 136 of which the gear 136 is connected to the shaft 50 by an Oldham coupling 142, 144 permitting lateral displacement of the shaft. The shaft 52 is driven by a motor in the base unit actuating the shaft through gearing including a set of gears replaceable to vary the gear ratio. The double band from which the capsules have been stamped passes down between a pair of stripper rolls rotating oppositely to the die rolls, whereby any capsules which may adhere to the band are removed therefrom. After passing through the stripper rolls, the band passes between mangle rolls which tension it and thereby assist in removing the capsules which fall into shoots 188, Fig. 7. The shoots are supported by links 190, 192 and are vibrated by links 194 mounted eccentrically on a shaft 198 geared to the driving mechanism. Gear-driven brushes 214 are provided for wiping oil from the surface of the rolls and for removing therefrom any fragments of the capsule forming bands. Specification 564,541 is referred to.