Patent Publication Number: US-2022212818-A1

Title: Machine arrangement and method for filling and sealing containers

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     The present invention relates to a machine arrangement and a method for filling and sealing containers, in particular pharmaceutical containers such as vials, syringes or small bottles or the like. 
     Machine arrangements for filling and sealing containers are known from the prior art in different designs. In the pharmaceutical sector, there is a clear trend toward small-batch filling, since new or personalized oncology or autoimmune therapies require an individual combination of pharmaceutical products. Existing machine concepts for filling and sealing containers are usually based on a series arrangement in which the container passes through multiple processing stations in a row, with transport or handling steps being necessary between the individual stations. Such a machine arrangement is known from EP 2280873 B1, for example. Such machine arrangements are, however, rather unsuitable for use in small batches, since the known machine arrangements are designed for large throughput quantities. 
     SUMMARY 
     The machine arrangement according to the invention has the advantage that a very compact and inexpensive design is possible. In particular, the space taken up by the machine arrangement is significantly reduced compared to the prior art. Furthermore, the cycle times for filling and sealing the containers can be significantly reduced compared to the prior art. In particular, empty runs of handling devices are minimized or completely eliminated. Furthermore, the machine arrangement according to the invention has increased flexibility and can handle individually fed containers or can also handle containers which are to be removed in a format template, for example a tray or the like, in particular without conversion measures. This is achieved according to the invention in that the machine arrangement has a processing station for filling and sealing containers and a handling device for loading and unloading the containers into and out of the machine arrangement. The handling device is designed to feed and remove containers from one side of the machine arrangement into it. This significantly reduces a so-called footprint of the machine compared to the continuous-flow machines used so far. The processing station has at least one work region for receiving a container, at which the container is filled and sealed. The processing station also has a storage region in which the filled and sealed container is temporarily stored. The handling device is designed to feed empty containers to the processing station and remove filled and sealed containers from the storage region. Since the handling device is designed to feed and remove the containers from one side of the machine arrangement, significantly reduced cycle times can be achieved and empty runs can be avoided, and format parts and space requirements, in particular a footprint, can be optimized. 
     The dependent claims show preferred developments of the invention. 
     Particularly preferably, the processing station further comprises a weighing station for weighing empty and/or filled containers. The weighing station is preferably arranged directly at the filling station, so that the weighing process can be carried out even during the filling process. 
     The processing station further preferably comprises an inspection device for checking the condition of the empty and/or filled containers. The inspection device is preferably a visual inspection device, for example camera-based. 
     Further preferably, the machine arrangement comprises a format receptacle with multiple receiving spaces for individual containers. In this case, four receiving spaces are preferably provided in the format receptacle. It is particularly preferable to have two receiving spaces for empty containers that are being filled and sealed and two receiving spaces for containers that are already filled and sealed. 
     More preferably, a number of processing spaces in the processing station is half as large as a number of receiving spaces in the format receptacle. This means that, if there are a total of four receiving spaces in the format receptacle, the processing station has exactly two work spaces. 
     More preferably, the holding device also has a plurality of individually controllable grippers, the number of grippers being equal to the number of processing spaces and/or the number of object positions in the processing station. In this way, individual control of grippers and thus handling of individual containers can be implemented. 
     The handling device is preferably a robot arm or, alternatively, a transport carriage. One or more manipulator towers are preferably provided on the transport carriage. The manipulator towers can also be arranged so as to be rotatable, in particular rotatable by 90°. 
     In order to achieve simple forward and backward transport in the machine arrangement, a turning station with at least two, preferably at least four, receiving spaces for containers is preferably provided, with one of the receiving spaces forming the storage region for the temporary storage of filled and sealed containers. The turning station is preferably designed to receive the entire format receptacle with multiple receiving spaces and turn it through 180°. 
     More preferably, the machine arrangement comprises a closed housing having a first lock. The empty containers are fed into the housing via the first lock and the filled and sealed containers are removed via the first lock. Such a machine arrangement is used in particular in the pharmaceutical sector. If necessary, the interior of the housing can be made sterile. 
     Further preferably, the machine arrangement comprises a second lock, with empty containers being fed into the housing via the second lock and the filled and sealed containers being removed via the second lock. This means that containers can be fed into and removed from the housing from two sides. 
     Particularly preferably, the machine arrangement further comprises a control device which is designed to be operated in one of three operating modes depending on a type of container and/or a type of feed. A first operating mode is designed in such a way that empty containers are introduced into the housing of the machine arrangement through the first lock and filled and sealed containers are discharged from the machine arrangement through the first lock. A second operating mode is designed in such a way that empty containers are introduced into the housing of the machine arrangement through this second lock and filled and sealed containers are discharged again from the machine arrangement through the second lock. A third operating mode is further designed such that empty containers are fed into the housing of the machine arrangement through one of the two locks and filled and sealed containers are discharged from the machine arrangement through the other of the two locks. Thus, according to the invention, three different operating modes can be provided in which containers are fed and removed exclusively from a single side or in which containers are guided through the machine arrangement using the continuous flow principle. 
     Particularly preferably, the machine arrangement comprises a first and a second additional module, the first additional module being arranged at the first lock and the second additional module being arranged at the second lock. The first additional module is designed to handle format receptacles for receiving a plurality of containers. The second additional module is designed to handle only isolated containers. This makes it possible, for example, for containers in a format receptacle, e.g. a tray, with a large number of openings for receiving a large number of containers to be processed via the first additional module and for individual or isolated containers to be processed further by the machine arrangement via the second additional module. Thus, with a single machine arrangement, it is possible to process both larger batches and small batches by feeding them through the respective different additional modules. Up to now, in the prior art, multiple machine arrangements were always necessary for this, and each of the multiple machine arrangements could only either process containers from format receptacles or isolated containers. 
     The containers are preferably vials, syringes, cartridges, small containers, special containers or the like. 
     The present invention also relates to a method for filling and sealing containers, in particular pharmaceutical containers, in a processing station, which can be carried out in one of three operating modes. A first operating mode is designed in such a way that containers are introduced into the housing of the machine arrangement through the first lock and filled and sealed containers are discharged again from the machine arrangement through the first lock. 
     A second operating mode is designed such that containers are introduced into the housing of the machine arrangement through the second lock and filled and sealed containers are discharged again from the machine arrangement through this second lock. 
     A third operating mode is designed such that empty containers are introduced into the housing of the machine arrangement through the first lock and filled and sealed containers are discharged again from the housing of machine arrangement through the second lock. This allows the continuous flow principle to be implemented on the machine arrangement. 
     In the first and second operating modes, a circulation principle is applied within the housing of the machine arrangement so that the containers are discharged back through the lock through which they were introduced into the housing. 
     With regard to the term “lock,” it should be noted that, according to the invention, this is understood to mean both locks for cleanroom applications in which undesired contamination of the cleanroom inside the housing of the machine arrangement is to be avoided, as well as in particular sealable openings in housings through which containers can be introduced into the housing and removed again from the housing. 
     More preferably, the method comprises the step of arranging the filled and sealed container on a storage region of the processing station, from which the filled and sealed container is then removed. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Preferred embodiments of the invention are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawing. In the drawing is: 
         FIG. 1  a schematic illustration of a machine arrangement according to a first preferred embodiment of the invention in a first state, 
         FIG. 2  a schematic illustration of the machine arrangement from  FIG. 1  in a second state, 
         FIG. 3  a schematic illustration of a machine arrangement according to a second embodiment of the invention, and 
         FIG. 4  a schematic illustration of a machine arrangement according to a third embodiment of the invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     A machine arrangement  1  according to a first preferred embodiment of the invention is described in detail below with reference to  FIGS. 1 and 2 . 
     As can be seen from  FIG. 1 , the machine arrangement  1  comprises a processing station  2  and a handling device  3 . 
     The machine arrangement  1  further comprises a closed housing  10  with four sides, with a first lock  11  being arranged on one side. As indicated by the arrows A and B in  FIG. 1 , the containers are fed and removed only via the first lock  11 . 
     The processing station  2  comprises a filling station  20  and a sealing station  23 . Depending on the type of container, a corresponding seal is applied to the container in the sealing station  23  and the container is thus sealed. 
     The machine arrangement  1  further comprises a work space region  4  which is arranged directly in front of the filling station  20  and the sealing station  23 . 
     The sealing station  23  comprises an oscillating conveyor  24  which feeds the sealing bodies, for example stoppers or the like, to the filled container so that they can be sealed in the sealing station  23 . 
     The machine arrangement  1  further comprises a storage region  5  for the temporary storage of filled and sealed containers. These filled and sealed containers are then removed from the housing  10  of the machine arrangement  1  from the storage region  5  via the first lock  11 . 
     The processing station  2  further comprises a weighing station  7  which is arranged at the filling station  20 . An inspection station  8  is also provided. The inspection station  8  in this embodiment is a visual inspection station. It should be noted, however, that additional inspection devices may be provided, for example for the seal, damage to the container, residual oxygen content in the container after filling, fill level inspection and/or an inspection of a residual air bubble in the closed container. 
     As can be seen in detail from  FIG. 1 , a first processing space  21  and a second processing space  22  are provided in front of the filling station  20 . Each of the two processing spaces  21 ,  22  is designed to receive an empty container  9 . These empty containers  9  are then filled at the first and second processing space. The filled containers are then transported to the sealing station  23 . 
     As can be seen from  FIGS. 1 and 2 , the handling device  3  in the machine arrangement  1  comprises a carriage  30 . Three manipulator towers  31 ,  32  and  33  are arranged on the carriage  30 . The three manipulator towers  31 ,  32 ,  33  have a fixed position on the carriage  30 . However, the first and the third manipulator tower  31 ,  33  can be rotated through 90° (cf. in particular the positions of the manipulator tower  31  in  FIGS. 1 and 2 ), as indicated in  FIG. 1  by the arrow C. 
     Each of the manipulator towers  31 ,  32 ,  33  has two individually controllable grippers  34 . The grippers  34  can remove containers  9  from the format receptacle  6  and return filled and/or sealed containers back into the format receptacle  6 , for example. 
     The first manipulator tower  31  can also remove containers  9  from the machine arrangement  1  via the first lock  11  and feed empty, new containers  9  into the machine arrangement  1  via the first lock  11 . 
     The format receptacle  6  has four receiving spaces, namely a first receiving space  61 , a second receiving space  62 , a third receiving space  63  and a fourth receiving space  64 . The two first receiving spaces  61 ,  62  are provided for feeding the containers to the processing station and the two third and fourth receiving spaces  63 ,  64  are provided for removing the filled and sealed containers from the machine arrangement  1 . 
     The machine arrangement  1  also comprises a turning station  50 . As can be seen from  FIG. 1 , the turning station  50  is arranged in the storage region  5  in the machine arrangement  1 . The turning station  50  makes it possible to turn through  180 ° . As a result, a position of the receiving spaces of the format receptacle  6  is reversed when it is located on the storage region  5  and is turned. As a result, the respective manipulator towers  31 ,  32 ,  33  can then transport the filled and sealed containers  9  to the first lock  11  and discharge them from the machine arrangement  1 . 
     By providing at least two different receiving spaces on the format receptacle  6 , namely at least one space for an empty container to be filled and sealed and one space for a filled and sealed container, it is possible for the format receptacle to never be completely empty when passing through the machine arrangement  1 . Either both empty containers and filled and sealed containers are arranged on the format receptacle  6  or only empty containers and empty spaces for filled and sealed containers to be received later are provided, or empty spaces for empty containers and occupied receiving spaces for filled and sealed containers are provided. 
     The machine arrangement  1  is particularly suitable for filling small batches of pharmaceutical products. Within the machine arrangement  1 , the carriage  30  can be moved linearly in both directions, as indicated in  FIG. 2  by the double arrow D. The first manipulator tower  31  moves back and forth between the first lock  11  and the filling station  20 , the second manipulator tower  32  moves back and forth between the filling station  20  and the sealing station  23 , and the third manipulator tower  33  moves back and forth between the sealing station  23  and the storage region  5 . By turning through 180° at the turning station  50 , the filled and sealed containers can be transported back from the third manipulator tower to the second manipulator tower and from the second manipulator tower to the first manipulator tower and from the first manipulator tower out of the machine arrangement  1 . 
     It should be noted that the machine arrangement  1  can also have a second lock  12 , which is shown in dashed lines in  FIGS. 1 and 2 . Containers could then also be fed and removed through the second lock. 
       FIG. 3  shows a machine arrangement  1  according to a second embodiment of the invention. Identical or functionally identical parts are denoted by the same reference signs as in the first embodiment. In contrast with first embodiment, the machine arrangement  1  of the second embodiment has a different handling device  3 . The handling device  3  of this embodiment comprises three robots  301 ,  302  and  303 . Here, the first robot  301  is responsible for feeding the containers into the machine arrangement  1  and removing them from the machine arrangement  1  via the first lock  11 . The second robot  302  takes over the format receptacle  6  from the first robot  301  and guides the empty containers to the filling station  20 . The third robot  303  takes the then filled containers from the filling station  20  and transfers them to the sealing station  23 , where they are sealed. The filled and sealed containers are then fed to the storage region  5  and temporarily stored there. The first robot  301  then takes the filled and sealed containers from the storage region  5  and discharges them via the first lock  11  on the same side of the machine arrangement  1  on which the containers were also introduced. 
     Otherwise, this embodiment corresponds to the previous embodiment, and so reference can be made to the description given there. 
       FIG. 4  shows a machine arrangement  1  according to a third embodiment of the present invention. Identical or functionally identical parts are denoted by the same reference signs. 
     In contrast with the previous embodiments, the machine arrangement  1  of the third embodiment comprises a handling device  3  with SCARA robots. As can be seen from  FIG. 4 , the handling device  3  comprises a total of three SCARA robots  201 ,  202  and  203 . All three SCARA robots  201 ,  202 ,  203  have the same structure. The SCARA robots have a simpler structure than the robots shown in the second embodiment, with the SCARA robots  201 ,  202 ,  203  allowing handling substantially in a horizontal plane. 
     As can be seen from  FIG. 4 , the machine arrangement of the third embodiment comprises a first lock  11  and a second lock  12 . The two locks are arranged opposite one another on the housing  10  of the machine arrangement. The machine arrangement  1  of the third embodiment further comprises a first additional module  101  and a second additional module  102 . A control unit  100  is designed to control the three SCARA robots  201 ,  202 ,  203 . 
     The first additional module  101  is arranged on the first lock  11 . The first additional module is designed to handle format receptacles for receiving a plurality of containers. In this case, individual containers are removed from the format receptacle, which can be e.g. a tray or the like, and introduced into the interior of the housing  10  of the machine arrangement  1  via the first lock  11 . 
     The second additional module  102  is designed to handle isolated containers. These can be containers which are separated by means of a star wheel or robot, for example. 
     The first additional module  101  is thus designed to handle a large number of containers. In contrast to this, the second additional module  102  is designed to handle only a small number of isolated containers. 
     The control unit  100  is designed to select one of three operating modes and to operate the machine arrangement accordingly. A first operating mode is designed in such a way that empty containers are introduced into the housing  10  of the machine arrangement through the first lock  11  and filled and sealed containers are discharged again from the machine arrangement through the first lock  11 . As shown schematically in  FIG. 4 , the containers from the first additional module  101  are introduced into the interior of the housing  10  via the first lock  11  according to the arrow A and transported to the processing spaces  21 ,  22  by rotation through 90° according to the arrow C. After filling at the processing spaces  21 ,  22 , the filled containers are conveyed further to the sealing station  23  (arrow D) and are sealed there. The sealed containers are then fed to the turning station  50  (arrow E) and turned there. Subsequently, a return transport takes place in accordance with the double arrows E, D and C for discharging again via the first lock  11  (arrow B) back to the first additional module  101 . In the first additional module, the containers filled and sealed in this way can then be stored in a format receptacle with a large number of spaces. The second lock  12  is closed during the first operating mode. 
     A second operating mode of the control device  100  is designed in such a way that containers are introduced into the housing  10  of the machine arrangement  1  from the second additional module  102  via a second lock  12  in accordance with the arrow H. The empty containers are then fed via the third SCARA robot  203  and the second SCARA robot  202  to the processing spaces  21 ,  22  and filled there. The filled containers are then conveyed to the sealing station  23  (arrow D) and from there via the turning station  50  (arrow F) or alternatively or directly by means of the third SCARA robot  203  via the second lock  12  back to the second additional module  102  (arrow G). The first lock  11  is closed during the second operating mode. 
     A third operating mode of the control device  100  is a continuous flow mode, with empty containers being introduced into the housing  10  via the first lock  11 , filled at the processing stations  21 ,  22 , sealed at the sealing station  23  and transported out of the housing  10  via the second lock  12 , and being further handled in the second additional module  102 , for example in a corresponding further processing operation such as flanging, cleaning, inspecting, etc. 
     The provision of two locks  11 ,  12  thus allows three different operating modes to be carried out with a single machine arrangement  1 . In the first operating mode, a large number of containers that are removed from a format receptacle are processed and returned to the format receptacle. In the second operating mode, only individual containers are fed from the additional module  102  into the processing station  2  and transported back to the second additional module. The second operating mode is particularly suitable for a small-batch application. In the third operating mode, a continuous flow mode can then be carried out by the machine arrangement  1 , in which, for example, a large number of containers are arranged in a format receptacle and, after filling and sealing, individual containers are discharged via the second additional module  102 . 
     This means that a high degree of variability can be achieved in the choice of containers to be filled, whereas, in the prior art, different machine arrangements have always been necessary. 
     In the third embodiment, small-scale SCARA robots are used, so that the investment costs in the machine arrangement shown are also relatively low. Thus, with the machine arrangement of the third embodiment, both a continuous flow mode and forward and backward transport and an introduction and discharge through the same lock can be realized. It should be noted that the continuous flow can of course also be provided starting from the second additional module  102  through the processing station  2  in the direction of the first additional module  101 . Furthermore, the use of SCARA robots allows a reduction in automation complexity compared to universal robots as in the second embodiment.