Improvements in Wafer Capsules for Enclosing Pulverulent Medicaments.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 27th Nov., 1896-Accepted, 9th Jan., 1897
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Wafer Capsules for Enclosing Pulverulent
Medicaments.
I, KARL MORSTADT, of 20, Ferdinandstrasse, Prague, in the Empire of Austria,
Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement :-
For enclosing pulverulent medicaments, druggists employ the so called medicinal
wafers, which are wafers having the form shown in the accompanying drawings, in
which
Figure 5 a plan view of my improved form of construction;
Figure 6 is a section of a capsule formed of two such improved wafers;
Figure 7 shows a plan of the device employed for inserting the powder in the
wafers;
Figure 8 is a section on the line -x of Figure 7.
The wafer a has ordinarily a recessed dish-shape and a flat edge or flange r. The
powder is placed in the dish-shaped recess, and the flat edge or flange r is then
moistened and a similar wafer placed thereon, as shown in Figure 3. The moistened
edge r of the one wafer adheres to the edge of the wafer laid upon it, and the
powder remains enclosed between the two. However popular this method of
enclosing medicaments in a pulverulent form may be even with the druggist,
complaints are still made about certain drawbacks connected therewith, and these
are as follows:-The druggist cannot conveniently pack the finished wafer-capsules
in boxes or cases and put them on one side, until the dampened edges have become
entirely dry, as, if the capsules come in contact whilst the edges are still damp,
they adhere to one another, and if it be then desired to separate them one from
another, several capsules are easily damaged, and the drug or medicament falls out.
If the capsules be inserted in boxes or cases with their edges still damp, the
wafers stick to the cases, and the capsules can only be used or obtained after
destroying the case.
The drawback which is most evident, however, consists in the fact that the edges
of such capsules when they have become dry are too hard and stiff and soften with
more difficulty in the mouth than the other parts of the capsule, and thus prevent
their being easily swallowed, as they tickle the palate and even the oesophagus.
I remove all these drawbacks by making the edge of the wafer not entirely level
but provided with a step shaped excrescence or projection, and such medicinal
wafers form the object of the present invention. a, Figure 4, is the dish-shaped
recessed wafer, is the flat flange or edge with the step shaped excrescence or
thickened part v.
In making up the capsules, the step shaped projection is alone moistened, and a
second similar wafer is laid thereon, whereupon the projections adhere together,
whilst the actual edges remain dry. Such capsules do not then stick to one
another, nor to the case or box in which they are packed, and the edge, as it is not

page_text: moistened, remains easily soluble, does not become hard, and the capsules cause no
inconvenience in swallowing.
The separate wafer capsules themselves are made in the usual manner from wafer
paste. The enclosing of the powders in the wafers and the making of the wafer-
capsules takes place by means of the apparatus shown in Figures 7 and 8.
Two metal plates p hinged at c, are provided with corresponding recesses o, the
diameter of which corresponds to the diameter of the wafer capsules, and are so
arranged that when both plates are shut together, the recesses o on both sides exactly
coincide, or stand one over the other. In these recesses of the plates p, which must
be laid out flat side by side, the wafers (half capsules) are then inserted, and the
portions of powder which are to be enclosed are inserted in the separate wafers
of the one plate. The projecting parts of the edges of the wafers of the other
plate are then run over, preferably with a moistened felt roller, or these projections
are moistened in any other suitable manner, and finally this metal plate, which
contains the empty wafers, is moved on its hinges or pivots down upon the first
metal plate, whereby the projections v adhere to one another on both sides and form
the capsules.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
The improvement in wafer capsules for enclosing pulverulent medicaments
which consists in forming the dish-shaped recessed medicinal wafers with a step
shaped excrescence or projection (v) on its edge or flange (r), which projection
is alone intended to be moistened when making up the capsule, whereby any
stiffening or hardening of the edges or any undesirable adhering together of the
capsules is avoided.
Dated this 26th day of November 1906
W. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
Of 6, Lord Street, Liverpool, Agents for the Applicant.