As a drug manufacturer, it’s important for you to remember that just pouring the active ingredients in the drugs and making them isn’t enough. Because your drugs will be transported over a distance, they need to be properly covered – and this is where capping machines come in.
But, how do they work, and what should you expect from them? This article explains everything you need to know.
Working Principles of Capping Machines
Container Feeding
The very first thing you do when you want to cap a container is to have it fed into the machine. Basically, you supply the lids or caps into the capping tool, so you can place them on the containers as part of the process.
Generally, however, you need to be aware of the different mechanisms that can be used in cap feeding:
Cap Elevators: A cap elevator is a component that consists of a conveyor belt with cups or cleats. With this mechanism, the caps are lifted to a higher position, where they are automatically fed into the machine directly.
Vibratory Bowl Feeder: As its name suggests, this machine makes use of vibration to feed the caps into the machine. Once the caps are fed into the feeder, they are eventually sorted and placed in alignment before they are finally sent to the chute or conveyor so they can be delivered to the capping machine.
Centrifugal Feeder: In this mechanism, centrifugal force is used to feed the caps into the machine. The caps are put in the feeder, then they are sorted with centrifugal motion before they move to the chute.
Pick-and-Place System: The pick-and-place system brings robotics into the mix, with the additional robotic arms and grippers picking caps up one by one from the entire supply and sending them into the containers.
Rotary Sorting Wheel: With the rotary sorting wheel, you have a spinning disc with components that hold each cap. As the disc spins, the caps are sorted and eventually sent into the capping machine, making for a flexible delivery system.
Each mechanism comes with its merits and disadvantages, so you need to be very careful with the way you work with them.
Cap Feeding
The next step will be to execute proper cap feeding. Your machine has to be able to take in the caps, so they can be placed on the containers.
Caps are fed into a capping machine through various mechanisms, depending on the design of the machine and the specific requirements of the production line.
The caps are usually stored together, mostly in a bin or a hopper that is placed over or adjacent to the capping machine. The bulk supply holds a lot of caps, so it can just pick from them and feed straight into the machine.
At the same time, the machine itself has a feeding mechanism that takes care of the transportation of the caps to the area where they are applied to the containers. It’s important to position or orient the caps properly, so you don’t end up with a jam or a misalignment. From there, they are moved and integrated with the capping process, so you get a seamless cap feeding operation that doesn’t run into any bottlenecks.
Per usual, you will need to keep an eye on every aspect of the process. But, when done right, this should be a breeze.
Cap Placement
Next, you go ahead to place the caps on the containers. This isn’t the exact capping process yet, but it’s a major precursor that needs to be achieved. Manufacturers tend to use different methods to achieve this, with the most prominent of them including:
- Screwing, where the cap is placed on the container’s opening and eventually forced to screw on the container
- Pressing, where things like press-on and snap-on caps are pressed on the opening of the container with the use of pressure
- Snapping, which focuses exclusively on snap-on caps and makes it easy to snap them into place at the opening of the container
- Induction sealing, which works with containers that have induction-sealable liners. With electromagnetic induction, the foil liners are heated, allowing the cap to bond with the rim of the container
- Traditional glueing, where caps are fixed to the containers using regular, safe glue. As long as the glue is properly accounted for, you’re good to go.
- Heat shrinking, where heat-shrinkable caps are put on the containers. With the application of heat, the cap is tightly shrunk
- The pick-and-place system, where robotic arms or mechanical grippers are used to take individual caps from a supply and palace it on the container accurately
Capping Process
Once the caps have been placed, then you can go ahead to implement the capping process itself.
Now, we should point out that there are different forms of capping, each with its own specific set of merits and demerits. The important thing here is that the capping machine is able to properly apply the amount of heat or force that is needed to ensure that the caps are placed, and that the container is properly covered.
When it comes to this, capping machines will need to apply optimal torque and energy to the container and the caps, ensuring that the linkage between the two of them is adequately strong – not too strong, and not too weak as well. Fortunately, most automated capping machines come with features to control torque, so you end up having an optimal level of torque available.
Container Handling
As the container capping process goes on, a major thing you need to keep in mind is the proper handling of the container itself. This ensures that the container is properly held in place, and that you don’t have to worry about issues like stability and balance.
With that in mind, here are a few handling techniques to keep in mind:
Ideal Orientation: Before the container gets to the capping station, they would need to be properly oriented to ensure that their positioning is right.
Transportation: Next, they would need to be moved to the capping station with belts, conveyors, and other movement mechanisms.
Stabilization: There also needs to be a proper stabilization mechanism to ensure that misalignment and movement is prevented while the capping process goes on.
Sealing Force Application: As soon as the caps have been placed, the machine immediately applies the sealing force needed to secure the caps perfectly on the openings. This is where things like screwing, snapping, and the other sealing methods will come into play.
Quality Control: Per usual, it’s critical to ensure that all containers and seals are checked to ensure proper quality. This way, you know that the entire process is locked and optimal across the board.
Container Discharge: The moment you get done with the capping process, you also need to ensure that your container is properly discharged, and can be processed further if the need arises.
Factors Affecting Capping Performance
It’s easy to believe that the capping process is pretty cut and dry, but this isn’t so. At the end of the day, the efficiency of your capping process will be affected by several factors, with some of the most prominent of them including the following:
Compatibility Between The Container & The Cap: This is important as it determines whether the capping will even be successful, much less efficient.
Design Of The Capping Machine: This, as well as the machine’s capabilities, will determine how well the machine works. You need to ensure that the machine has the right mechanism, and that it can easily be adjusted if the need arises.
Speed Of Production: Generally, the speed with which the containers move through the machine will also go a long way in determining how well the machine performs across the board.
The Operator’s Skill: Training and supervision are usually critical for operators, so they know what to do and how to properly handle the machines they’re working with.
Container & Cap Quality: This is pretty straightforward – the higher the quality of the containers and the caps, the easier and more effective the entire capping process will be. So, always look out for those as well.
Conclusion
The process of capping is actually quite intuitive. As a drug maker, it is beyond important to always have your eye on this, as it will go a long way in helping to improve the quality of your medicines.
Fortunately, capping machines make this incredibly easy. And at Sainty Tec, we can always help you to understand how best to make a decision when looking out for a capping machine.
