GB2276476A

GB2276476A - Tool identification

Info

Publication number: GB2276476A
Application number: GB9405697A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Michael Anthony Glover
Original assignee: I Holland Ltd
Current assignee: I Holland Ltd
Priority date: 1993-03-26
Filing date: 1994-03-23
Publication date: 1994-09-28
Anticipated expiration: 2014-03-23
Also published as: GB2276476B; GB9306361D0; GB9405697D0

Abstract

A tool for a machine, particularly a tool being a punch and/or die for forming pharmaceutical tablets, has provided on a convenient area thereof a light readable bar code 16 (or matrix of dots) for identification and verification purposes. <IMAGE>

Description

Improvements in or Relating to Tool Identification The present invention concerns tool identification, especially but not exclusively the identification of punches and dies used in the production of pharmaceutical and other tablets.

Punches and dies are normally stored in a special tool room where all cleaning and rectification work is carried out. In some situations tools can be stored for just days or even months according to production demands for the product they make. In other situations tools may be used almost continually but require to be taken out of the tablet manufacturing machine for routine cleaning.

According to current practice the final check that the correct tools are being used in the machine is a visual check carried out by the tool fitter. This is often difficult to carry out as the unique features on the tablet producing region of the tool may be difficult to identify due, for example, to the fact that the tool presents a reverse image, thus a 3 on the tool could be mistaken for a 5 or a C for a G. Additionally a typical tablet pressing machine can incorporate up to eighty pairs of tools. This increases the opportunity for human error.

Furthermore, at other stages during transportation and storage of tools between, for example, the tool manufacturer and the user and during storage and movement of tools in the user's storage area, automatic identification of the tools such that they can be validated and, for example, removed by robotic means is difficult to achieve.

Physical marking of the tools with, for example, coloured paint is not acceptable as not only can the paint be chipped off or wear away but also can lead to contamination within the finished product.

Similar conditions apply for other tools used in the pharmaceutical processing industry. Such interchangeable tools are known as "change parts" and can include as well as punches and dies for tablet compression machines, die feeding devices and die filling cams for such machines. Change parts can also comprise compaction rollers for roller compacting machines.

In a granulation process the change parts can include impeller devices for mixing machines, rotor blades and hammers for comminuting machines and screens and meshes for use in sieving and size reduction. When the tablets take the form of capsules, change parts in a capsule filling machine can include capsule feed tubes, capsule opening and closing tooling and filling and metering 'dip' tubes. Identification and validation is also important in the machinery employed in packaging pharmaceutical tablets, for example, change parts in blister packaging machines can include, blister format dies and punches, product feeding tracks, sealing plattens, blister pack cutting dies/knives and trimming take up drums. In strip packing machines change parts can include format rollers.

It is an object of the present invention to obviate or mitigate disadvantages currently experienced in ensuring that the desired tool or change part is actually in the desired place at the desired time.

According to the present invention there is provided a tool for a machine for processing tablets or the like, the tool having provided on a convenient area thereof an identification which is readable by a light receiving apparatus.

In a preferred form of the invention the identification comprises a bar code. Preferably the bar code is etched onto a normally non-operative surface of the tool.

In an alternative arrangement a matrix of dots can provide the identification.

According to a further aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of identification/ validation of tools for use in a tablet manufacturing or packaging operation comprising marking the tool with an identification which is readable by 3 light receiving apparatus and prior to use of the tool reading the identification by a light receiving apparatus, comparing the signal read with preselected data and indicating/ validating that the tool corresponds with the data.

An embodiment of the present invention will now be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Fig. 1 shows a tool for a tablet making machine; Fig. 2 shows a modified tool; and Fig. 3 shows diagrammatically a tablet making tool identification assembly.

Fig. 1 shows an example of a punch for use in a machine which presses pharmaceutical tablets from powder. As the tablet pressing machine does not form part of the present invention it will not be described in detail in this specification. The overall configuration of the punch 10 can vary considerably depending upon the machine in which it is intended to be used but generally it includes a tip 12 which, in its concave outer face 13 includes a replica of the part of the tablet formed by the punch. It will be realised that a plurality of different punches each with different sized, shaped and marked recesses can be provided to form a plurality of different sized, shaped and marked tablets. Clearly it is important that the punches are matched to the tablet formulation.

Extending rearwardly from the tip 12 there is a cylindrical shaft or barrel 14 by which the punch is mounted in the tablet pressing machine.

According to the present invention an identification 16 is provided on the surface of the barrel at a predetermined location, for example a predetermined distance D, from the end of the barrel. The identification is a bar code taking a standard, generally recognised, form comprising a plurality of spaced bars 18 of differing thickness. The bars are of equal length and are arranged parallel to each other along an axis which is parallel to the longitudinal axis of the tool, the bars being perpendicular to the axis. The spacing between the bars may vary and the combination of differing bar thickness and spacings gives a unique pattern. A separate bar code is chosen for each unique punch so that the bar code can identify, for example the pattern on the outer face of the tip 12, and consequently the tablet shape the tool will produce.

In the manufacture of the punch, the etching of the bar code is regarded as being part of the manufacturing process, in other words, the tool is not complete unless it has a bar code etched thereon. The barrel 14 of the punch is polished during the manufacturing process and the bars 18 of the bar code are etched on the cylindrical surface of the tool by a laser, the bars being provided by the less polished areas produced by the etching process.

The bar code is chosen such that it is unique for that particular type of tool and the bar code, therefore, uniquely identifies the tool throughout its working life.

The bar code can be read by any suitable light emitting and receiving apparatus 20, for example a laser bar code reader. This means that during the handling of the tool by the tool manufacturer prior to its despatch to the manufacturing pharmaceutical company, automatic means can be used at several locations to identify the particular tool and transfer it, robotically if necessary, from area to area through checking, packaging and storage and identification facilities.

After transportation to a pharmaceutical manufacturing company, similar light emitting and receiving arrangements can be used to scan the bar code to validate, for example, that all the tools in a set were correct and as ordered. Thereafter the tool could be robotically handled through storage and up to the point of use where, for added security, a further light emitting and receiving arrangement similar to that shown in Fig. 3 could check that the tool about to be inserted in a machine is exactly the tool required to produce a specific tablet, thereby again validating that the punch is correct at the exact point of use.

Fig. 3 illustrates diagrammatically a magazine 22 for storing a plurality of punches. Mechanical handling means 24 select and remove a punch 16 from the magazine and move it to the tableting press 26. To ensure the desired tool is being transferred its bar code is verified while it remains in the mechanical handling means by a light emitting and receiving arrangement 20.

The signals received by the arrangement 20 are transmitted to a data comparator 28 which stores information linking bar codes with punch types and only if the signals received correspond with preselected information in the comparator will the mechanical handling means progress.

At any stage, as well as automatically identifying a tool, the reading arrangement could give a visible and/or audible indication of the status of the tool, for example a green light could be shown by an indicator 30 for a correct selection and a red light and audible alarm for an incorrect selection.

Various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention, for example, the identification 16 need not be a bar code but it could be any light reflecting pattern, for example, a matrix of 8 x 8 dots, as shown in Fig. 2, the presence or absence of dots within the matrix being readable by an appropriate light emitting and scanning arrangement.

In a further modification the tools in question need not be tools for pressing tablets but could be tools for forming packaging for tablets, for example blister packets. It is equally important that the packaging is matched with the tablet so that the identification and validation steps described above can be carried out using, for example, bar codes on the tooling for forming the blister pack.

In other modifications bar codes are used on other change parts used in a pharmaceutical process.

Claims

Claims:

1. A tool for a machine for processing tablets or the like, the tool having provided on a convenient area thereof an identification which is readable by a light receiving apparatus.

2. A tool as claimed in Claim 1, in which the identification comprises a bar code.

3. A tool as claimed in Claim 2, in which the bar code is etched onto a normally non-operative surface of the tool.

4. A tool as claimed in Claim 1, in which the identification comprises a matrix of dots.

5. A method of identification/validation of tools for use in a tablet manufacturing or packaging operation comprising marking the tool with an identification which is readable by a light receiving apparatus and prior to use of the tool reading the identification by a light receiving apparatus, comparing the signal read with preselected data and indicating/validating that the tool corresponds with the data.

6. A tool for a machine for processing tablets substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

7. A method of indentification/validation of tools for use in a tablet manufacturing or packaging operation, substantially as hereinbefore described witgh reference to the accompanying drawings.

8. Any novel subject matter or combination including novel subject matter disclosed, whether or not within the scope of or relating to the same invention as any of the preceding Claims.