Patent Publication Number: US-2021186817-A1

Title: Permeable spraying device for making drug tablets

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Field of Invention 
     The invention is a device for making drug tablets, and more particularly a permeable spraying device for making drug tablets. 
     Related Art 
     Drug tablet on the market is one of the most common types in drug bags, the current manufacturing method for drug tablets is performed by sliding the mixed powder into a tablet machine from an upper funnel, the mixed powder enters a powder tank and falls into sets of tablet molds, a size of the space in the mold determines a volume of the tablet. After entering the mold, the powder will first have a preliminary appearance according to a shape of the mold, the structure is loose, and a thickness is about 2˜3 times of that of the final product. Then, upper and lower molds squeeze each other to compress the originally loose powder into a sturdy tablet that can withstand collisions. Finally, the lower mold pushes the tablet upward to get the tablet out of the mold. By designing the shape of the mold to determine the appearance and size of the drug tablet, and then through the manufacturing process of machine filling, extrusion, and demolding rotation, tens of thousands of the same tablet can be manufactured in a short time. This traditional drug manufacturing method requires not only mixing the compositions and proportions of the drug, but also requires manufacturing with molds. Therefore, one type of tablet requires one type of molding press. Due to the problem of wear and tear of molding press, multiple sets of the same type of molding press must be prepared, and thus leads to high overall costs. When production volumes of special tablets are not high, unit prices of the tablets cannot be reduced. Not only that, when tablets are made with traditional drug manufacturing method, different shapes of tablets require different molds, this further leads to high costs. 
     The detailed features and advantages of the invention are described in detail in the following embodiments, the contents thereof are sufficient to enable those with ordinary skill in the art understand the technical contents of the invention and implement accordingly, and according to the contents, claims and drawings disclosed in this specification, those having ordinary skill in the art can easily understand the related objects and advantages of the invention. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     A main object of the invention is to use a permeable spraying method of the invention to spray at designated positions according to compositions of drug tablets, and a multi-layer drug body structure can be formed by deposition, stacking and bonding, which is not only faster in manufacturing, but also lower in cost. 
     A secondary object of the invention is to form a multi-layer drug body structure by having spraying of each layer of colloid by deposition, stacking and bonding, which is capable of effectively controlling dissolution time of different medicinal properties, thereby suitable hierarchical positions can be configured according to the priority of different medicinal properties to achieve optimum release timings for different drug properties. 
     Another object of the invention is to use a drug tablet manufacturing device of the invention to make drug tablets of different shapes at will without the need to make molds additionally, so that the costs for manufacturing drug tablets can be effectively controlled. 
     In order to achieve the above objects, the invention provides a permeable spraying device for making drug tablets comprising a carrying platform defining a powder dropping area and a flattened spraying area adjacent to the powder dropping area, the carrying platform combines with a moving device capable of moving vertically; a spraying equipment mounted above the carrying platform, the spraying equipment comprises at least one powder box for storing a powder, at least one colloid spraying equipment, a driving device connected to the colloid spraying equipment and for horizontal movement and a placement platform, wherein the powder box is correspondingly disposed above the powder dropping area, the colloid spraying equipment is correspondingly disposed above the flattened spraying area and comprises a plurality of colloid carriers for accommodating a medicinal colloid and a plurality of sprinklers respectively connected with each of the colloid carriers for spraying the colloid, wherein each of the sprinklers further comprises a plurality of colloid inlets connected with each of the colloid carriers and a plurality of nozzles communicated with the colloid inlets and spraying the colloid, and the placement platform is provided with a plurality of supplementary colloid carriers, each of the supplementary colloid carriers is provided with a pressure controller connected to the colloid carrier to automatically replenish the colloid; a flattening device installed on the carrying platform and capable of moving horizontally back and forth in the flattened spraying area; and a control equipment equipped with a storage unit for storing a tablet spraying information and an execution control unit connected to the storage unit and controlling the powder box, the flattening device and the colloid spraying equipment to execute the tablet spraying information. 
     According to one embodiment of the invention, wherein the powder box further comprises a stirring member installed therein and a driving member connected to the stirring member. 
     According to one embodiment of the invention, wherein the powder has medicinal compositions. 
     According to one embodiment of the invention, wherein the tablet spraying information comprises powder compositions, powder layer quantity, colloid compositions, colloid layer quantity, and colloid structure. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a schematic diagram of a usage state of powder dropping and powder spreading by a powder box of the invention; 
         FIG. 3  is a schematic diagram of a usage state of a colloid spraying equipment of the invention for spraying colloid; 
         FIG. 4  is a schematic diagram of a usage state of the powder box of the invention when powder is dropped and spread again; 
         FIG. 5  is a perspective view of the colloid spraying equipment of the invention; 
         FIG. 6  is a flow chart of a manufacturing process of drug tablets of the invention; 
         FIG. 7  is a cross-sectional view of a structure of a drug tablet with release rate of the invention; and 
         FIG. 8  is a top view of a structure of a drug tablet with release rate of the invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     The following specific embodiments illustrate the implementation of the invention. Those having ordinary skill in the art can easily understand the other advantages and efficacies of the invention from the content disclosed in this specification. 
     The structures, proportions, sizes shown in the drawings in conjunction with this specification are merely used to match the content disclosed in the specification for the understanding and reading of those having ordinary skill in the art, and are not intended to limit the conditions under which the invention can be implemented, so they have no technical substantial significance. Any structural modifications, changes in proportional relationships, or size adjustments should still fall within the scope of the technical content disclosed in the invention without affecting the efficacies and objects that can be achieved by the invention. At the same time, terms such as “one”, “two”, “above”, “upper” etc., cited in this specification are merely for understanding of the description, and are not intended to limit the scope of implementation of the invention, and changes or adjustments in their relative relationships should also be regarded as the scope that can be implemented by the invention without substantial changes made to the technical content. 
     Please refer to  FIG. 1 ,  FIG. 5  and  FIG. 6  for a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the invention; a perspective view of a colloid spraying equipment of the invention; and a flow chart of a manufacturing process of drug tablets of the invention respectively. The invention provides a permeable spraying device for making drug tablets mainly comprising a carrying platform  1 , a spraying equipment  2 , a flattening device  3 , and a control equipment  4 , wherein the carrying platform  1  defines a powder dropping area  10  and a flattened spraying area  11  adjacent to the powder dropping area  10 , and a moving device  12  combined with the carrying platform  1  is capable of moving vertically. The spraying equipment  2  is mounted above the carrying platform  1 , and the spraying equipment  2  comprises at least one powder box  20 , a plurality of colloid spraying equipment  21 , a driving device  22  and a placement platform  23 , wherein the powder box  20  is used for storing a powder  200  (with medicinal compositions) (refer to  FIG. 2 ), the driving device  22  is connected with each of the colloid spraying equipment  21  for horizontal movement, wherein the powder box  20  is correspondingly disposed above the powder dropping area  10 , each of the colloid spraying equipment  21  is correspondingly disposed above the flattened spraying area  11  and comprises a plurality of colloid carriers  24  for accommodating medicinal colloid  240  (refer to  FIG. 4 ), and the placement platform  23  is provided with a plurality of supplementary colloid carriers  25 , each of the supplementary colloid carriers  25  is provided with a pressure controller  26  connected to the colloid carrier  24  to automatically replenish the colloid  240 . The flattening device  3  is installed on the carrying platform  1  and capable of moving horizontally back and forth in the flattened spraying area  11 . The control equipment  4  is equipped with a storage unit  40  for storing a tablet spraying information (including: powder compositions, powder layer quantity, colloid compositions, colloid layer quantity, and colloid structure) and an execution control unit  41  connected to the storage unit  40  and controlling the powder box  20 , the flattening device  3  and the colloid spraying equipment  21  to execute the tablet spraying information. 
     The powder box  20  further comprises a stirring member  201  installed in the powder box  20  and a driving member  202  connected to the stirring member  201 . 
     The colloid spraying equipment  21  further comprises a plurality of sprinklers  210  respectively connected to each of the colloid carriers  24  for spraying the colloid  240 , each of the sprinklers  210  further comprises a plurality of colloid inlets  2100  and a plurality of nozzles  2102 , the colloid inlets  2100  are connected to the respective colloid carriers  24 , and each the nozzles  2102  communicates with the colloid inlet  2100  and ejects the colloid  240 . 
     According to the permeable spraying device for making drug tablets, a multi-layer drug body structure can be made with the following manufacturing process with steps including: 
     a) placing a powder into at least one powder box in a spraying equipment; 
     b) placing a colloid into a plurality of colloid carriers in the spraying equipment; 
     c) an execution control unit in a control equipment controlling the powder in the powder box to be sprinkled in a powder dropping area; 
     d) the execution control unit controlling a flattening device to pave the powder flatly in a flattened spraying area on a carrying platform; 
     e) the execution control unit controlling a colloid spraying equipment in the spraying equipment to spray the colloid on the powder in the flattened spraying area according to a tablet spraying information; 
     f) the execution control unit controlling the powder in the powder box to be sprinkled in the powder dropping area again; 
     g) the execution control unit controlling the flattening device to pave the powder on the colloid to complete making of the drug tablets; and 
     h) a moving device on the carrying platform moving the carrying platform vertically according to the steps c, d and f respectively completed. 
     The tablet spray information stored in the storage unit  40  in the manufacturing process comprises powder compositions, powder layer quantity, colloid compositions, colloid layer quantity, and colloid structure. 
     Refer to  FIG. 2 ,  FIG. 3 ,  FIG. 4  and  FIG. 5  for a schematic diagram of a usage state of powder dropping and powder spreading by a powder box of the invention; a schematic diagram of a usage state of a colloid spraying equipment of the invention for spraying colloid; a schematic diagram of a usage state of the powder box of the invention when powder is dropped and spread again; and a perspective view of the colloid spraying equipment of the invention respectively.  FIG. 2  shows that according to the steps c and d, the powder  200  in the powder box  20  can be optionally added with medicinal or non-medicinal compositions according to properties or requirements of a drug, the execution control unit  41  in the control equipment  4  controls the powder  200  in the powder box  20  to be sprinkled in the powder dropping area  10  according to the tablet spraying information (including: powder compositions, powder layer quantity, colloid compositions, colloid layer quantity, and colloid structure), the powder box  20  is installed with the stirring member  201  and the driving member  202  connected to the stirring member  201 , the driving member  202  drives the stirring member  201  to rotate so as to maintain the powder  200  in an agitated state, so that the fallen powder  200  can be evenly spread in the powder dropping area  10 . Then, the execution control unit  41  controls the flattening device  3  to pave the powder  200  flatly in the flattened spraying area  11 . 
     As shown in  FIGS. 3 and 4 , according to the steps e, f, g, after paving the powder  200  in the flattened spraying area  11  flatly, the execution control unit  41  controls the colloid spraying equipment  21  in the spraying equipment  2  to spray the colloid  240  on the powder  200  in the flattened spraying area  11  according to the tablet spraying information (including: powder compositions, powder layer quantity, colloid compositions, colloid layer quantity, and colloid structure). It is worth mentioning that the colloid  240  in the colloid carrier  24  will continuously reduce its volume during a spraying process, at this time, a pressure inside the colloid carrier  24  will be detected by the pressure controller  26 . When the pressure controller  26  detects that the colloid  240  in the colloid carrier  24  is insufficient, the colloid  240  is automatically transferred from the supplementary colloid carrier  25  to the colloid carrier  24 . In this way, a volume of the colloid  240  in the colloid carrier  24  can be prevented from being too little for spraying. 
     In addition, each of the colloid carriers  24  represents one type of the medicinal colloid  240 . Therefore, when a drug tablet has four medicinal compositions, four of the colloid carriers  24  are required, each of the colloid carriers  24  is loaded on the sprinkler  210 , and the colloid  240  is input through the respective colloid inlet  2100  and then output from the nozzle  2102 . The colloid  240  can be sprayed in the following two ways. Taking the above four medicinal properties as an example, in a first spraying method, each of the colloid carriers  24  sprays separately, and the sprayed colloid  240  is combined with the flatly paved powder  200 . In a second spraying method, the colloid  240  in each of the colloid carriers  24  is mixed and sprayed on the powder  200  again. The above two methods can be adjusted according to requirements. 
     After the colloid  240  is sprayed, the execution control unit  41  controls the powder  200  in the powder box  20  to be sprinkled in the powder dropping area  10  again. The driving member  202  in the powder box  20  is used to drive the stirring member  201  to rotate before sprinkling, thereby the powder  200  is kept in an agitated state, so that the fallen powder  200  can be evenly spread in the powder dropping area  10 , and then the execution control unit  41  controls the flattening device  3  to pave the powder  200  flatly in the flattened spraying area  11 . The execution control unit  41  controls the flattening device  3  to pave and combine the powder  200  on the colloid  240  to complete the making of drug tablets. After the making of the drug tablets is completed, the powder  200  without spraying the colloid  240  is recycled and reused. 
     It can be known from the above that the permeable spraying method of the invention is capable of spraying at designated positions according to compositions of drug tablets, and a multi-layer drug body structure can be formed by deposition, stacking and bonding, which is not only faster in manufacturing, but also lower in cost. 
     Please refer to  FIGS. 7 and 8  for a cross-sectional view of a structure of a drug tablet with release rate of the invention; and a top view of a structure of a drug tablet with release rate of the invention respectively. It is further explained that besides the foregoing drug tablet with four medicinal properties and the spraying operation performed by the four colloid carriers  24  and the sprinkler  210  on each of the colloid carriers  24 , it is especially important that each layer of the colloid  240  is sprayed to form a multi-layer drug body structure by deposition, stacking and bonding. The so-called deposition, stacking and bonding method, in short refers to the colloid  240  having a permeable drug colloid  240   b , after completion, it represents the completion of a first layer, and then continue to stack in this way, while the permeable drug colloid  240   b  is added according to actual requirements. In addition, when a thickness of a whole drug tablet is 2 mm, and when a drug release rate of the drug tablet is to be delayed, the permeable drug colloid  240   b  can be sprayed on an intermediate layer and combined with the powder  200  and a drugless colloid  240   a . As for  FIG. 8 , the permeable drug colloid  240   b  is combined with the powder  200  and the drugless colloid  240   a  and sprayed at a central position of the drug tablet, and then the powder  200  is spread flatly around and combined by the drugless colloid  240   a  to form another type of drug tablet capable of controlling drug release. It can be known from the above that dissolution time of different medicinal properties can be more effectively controlled, thereby suitable hierarchical positions can be configured according to the priority of different medicinal properties to achieve optimum release timings for different medicinal properties, so that users can gradually absorb according to sequences of different medicinal properties to achieve an optimum therapeutic effect. 
     Since a speed of drug release is closely related to the control of diseases, it takes a longer time to complete medicinal properties release for long-acting drugs for diseases such as hypertension, and for short-acting drugs for diseases such as heart disease, medicinal properties need to be released in a short time. In view of this, drug tablets prepared by the invention have excellent advantages for the controllable drug release rate. 
     Based on the above, the following advantages of efficacies of controlling a drug release rate can be summarized as follows: 1. a shape of a drug can be controlled to change the drug release rate, it should be further explained that a drug tablet with a porous structure is easier to dissolve than a drug tablet with a non-porous structure; 2. a position of a drug in a drug tablet can be controlled to determine a release rate (faster release of an outer layer, slower release of an inner layer); and 3. production of drug tablets with compound or multiple prescriptions and with adjustable drug release rate can be achieved by a single device. 
     It is to be understood that the above description is only preferred embodiments of the present invention and is not used to limit the present invention, and changes in accordance with the concepts of the present invention may be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention, for example, the equivalent effects produced by various transformations, variations, modifications and applications made to the configurations or arrangements shall still fall within the scope covered by the appended claims of the present invention.