Patent Application
20120247353
The present invention relates to printing on the surface of soft gelatin capsules during filling. In particular, the invention relates to an apparatus and method for printing a pre-determined figure or symbol on the surface of a soft gelatin capsule while the product is being encapsulated, including means for transporting the gelatin ribbon; inking means; and means for shaping the soft capsule, including an injection, casting, and die-cutting station, and additional printing means. The present invention meets these needs and provides for some other related advantages.
The present invention relates to printing on the surface of soft gelatin capsules, so that, while the capsule is being filled with product by injection and subsequently expanded, the surface of the soft gelatin capsule contacts the inner wall of the cast, which has been prepared with printing figures or signs and previously inked, for the surface area of the soft gelatin capsule to be printed with the predetermined figures or signs.
During the encapsulation technique the gelatin ribbon is typically pulled out from two sources into a product-loading station where the ribbons are thermally sealed with each other to isolate the product in between them, so that, as they swell up the product becomes trapped between the cavities formed by the roller casts facing each other, wherein the casts further comprise a die-like cutting rim that cuts out the excess gelatin and form the capsule. The gelatin excess is cut out by the interaction of two cutting rims of each one of the casts on the rollers.
As such, gelatin capsules are normally prepared using flexible and deformable gelatin in the form of a ribbon. To obtain the desired effect, gelatin may be mixed with other components to vary its characteristics in different manners for diverse applications, so the term gelatin is used in the present invention to encompass a range of gelatin-based compositions used for encapsulation processes.
Due to this flexibility and deformability, although several methods have been proposed to apply signs or symbols on the gelatin ribbon for them to appear on the resulting capsule, thus far it has been impossible to place specific signs on a gelatin ribbon for them to appear on a pre-determinable manner on the resulting capsule. There are several alternatives to this gelatin capsule printing issue. The ones used more often involve a printing process wherein one of the gelatin ribbons is previously printed before the process proceeds towards the thermal sealing step.
In fact, US Document, U.S. Pat. No. 2,624,163 granted to Stirn, discloses a system to print colors, stripes, and legends on a gelatin film prior to the formation of gelatin capsules. US Document, U.S. Pat. No. 2,929,320 granted to Hansen et al., discloses a capsule-forming gelatin-film printing system that includes inking means applied prior to capsule formation. Also, the prior art discloses Great Britain Patent Application GB 9605891 granted to Cruttenden, related to a printing system that prints the gelatin ribbon during transportation, that is, before capsule filling and formation.
All the above documents involve printing on the gelatin ribbon prior to capsule formation, wherein previously inked rollers print the desired symbol or sign on the ribbon. The impression can be appreciated on the surface once the gelatin ribbon is encapsulated and the capsule is formed.
These printing apparatuses and processes are appropriate when the signs or symbols to be printed are sufficiently small with respect to the size of the capsule. Otherwise, during the capsule-formation process, the impressions may overlap with each other, or, in the worst case scenario, the impression may become diffuse as the gelatin ribbon expands during filling and thermal sealing.
There are some other printing systems where the capsule is printed using an inked roller after it has been formed. These systems are unsuitable because the capsule must be positioned in a certain way, snugly fit and ready for a correct printing, this making the process time-consuming, and thus, expensive.
The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for printing a pre-determined figure or symbol on the surface of a soft gelatin capsule while the product is being encapsulated, including means for transporting the gelatin ribbon; inking means; and means for shaping the soft capsule, including an injection, molding, and die-cutting station, and additional printing means from which the capsule exits once it has been formed and printed.
To further clarify the invention and its advantages as compared with the prior art, the potential illustrative and not limitative embodiments of the application of these principles are described hereinafter with the aid of the annexed drawings.
The apparatus schematically illustrated in
At its turn, the injection and casting station 4 comprises filling means 5, and heating means 6.
Normally during the encapsulating process, as the gelatin ribbons swell up they conform to the roller cavity casts facing each other, and then expand due to the action of the product injection, so the capsule is formed with a body with end poles within the cast cavity, where the said cast additionally acts as a die so once the capsule is filled in, the excess gelatin is cut out, and the capsule is finally formed. The form adopted by the capsule as it is filled is due to the action of the injected product and is caused by the stretching allowed by the gelatin. As such, the cast does not influence the form of the capsule as it forms, only its contour as it is cut out.
On the other hand, the main objective of the invention resides on the fact that the injection and casting station 4 itself includes certain printing means 7 set in such a manner that during the conventional process whereby the ribbons are thermally sealed with each other and as they subsequently swell up due to the filling by product injection, the walls of the expanded capsule approach the printing means 7 and the gelatin capsules are printed at the same time. In fact, the subject matter of the present invention is the printing of soft gelatin capsules during forming.
For this, the printing means 7 comprise two printing rollers 8 facing each other. The printing rollers 8, juxtaposed to each other, are composed of a plurality of capsule-forming casts and dies.
The printing rollers 8 are inked by action of the transfer station that comprises each one of the two printing rollers 8, and a transfer roller 9 arranged onto an ink roller 10, which transfers the ink from a reservoir before filling.
As such, each printing roller 8 comprises a plurality of cavities 11, each forming an encapsulating cast. Each cavity comprises a mouth and a bottom.
The cavities 11 contain the printing arts, while these at their turn comprise a plurality of reliefs that form the sign or figure to be printed.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the printing art may be located at the bottom of the cavity, so that as the capsule expands and makes contact with the art during formation, its pole gets printed. However, in alternative embodiments, the art may be located somewhere between the mouth and the bottom of the cavity.
The cavity formed by the encapsulating cast further comprises a cutting rim to die-stamp the excess gelatin surrounding the expanded and formed capsule when each printing roller 8 is facing the other one.
The cavities 11 of each one of the printing rollers 8 are juxtaposed with a plurality of heads 12 arranged on the surface of a transfer roller 9, so the ink is transferred towards the art located inside each cavity 11 of the printing roller 8.
Thus, the ink roller 10 transfers ink to the heads 12 of the transfer roller 9, to apply ink on the reliefs of the art arranged inside the cavities 11 of the printing roller 8.
The capsule-forming method of the present invention comprises:
(i) A first step wherein the first gelatin ribbon 2 is faced with the second gelatin ribbon 2′ inside the injection and casting station;
(ii) In parallel to the first step, during the second step the art reliefs arranged inside the cavities forming the casts of the printing roller 8 are inked by action of the transfer station by the transfer roller 9 arranged onto the ink roller 10.
(iii) A third step wherein the facing ribbons are thermally sealed with each other while they are being filled with the product, so that, as they are swelled up by their content, they conform to the cast cavity, contact the cast cavity and thus, as they contact the art previously inked during the second step, the desired signs or figures are printed on the capsule's surface.
(iv) A fourth step wherein the formed and printed capsule is cut out by the die in the cast-formation rim;
(v) A fifth pre-drying, drying, inspection, and packaging step.
As such, the speed rate of the ink transfer roller 9 is the same as that of the printing roller 8, so no further secondary components are needed for alignment and operation.
On the other hand, the ink supply for the ink roller 10 may comprise an ink bath with a recirculation or feeding pump, among other means.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the cast cavities may be interchangeable so that the arts conforming the signs or figures may be adapted according to the needs. Similarly, and on an as needed basis, in order to guarantee the exact fit between the cavity's surface and the art with the heads 12 of the transmitting roller 9 during inking, some spring means used to adjust and compress the art are available.
In a preferred non-limiting embodiment, the art located inside the cavity may form a single piece since in alternative embodiments the art may comprise a separate piece of the cavity, with adjusting means thereto.
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/IB2007/002271 | 7/30/2007 | WO | 00 | 11/30/2010 |
