A capsule-filling machine is vital for the pharmaceutical industry. It plays an essential role by filling the required ingredients into a capsule at the necessary speed.
A liquid capsule filling machine is essential for industries that fill and seal the liquid and other substances into capsules. This machine provides highly functional and insoluble pharma solutions into capsules for healthcare products and pharmaceutical companies.
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What Is A Capsule?
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A capsule is a tiny cylindrical package that could get easily swallowed. It gets used to pack medicines or ingredients that could be vitamins or supplements. They are a perfect replacement for tablets.
As per the requirement and process of the industry, ingredients packed into a capsule could be in the form of powder, liquid solvent, or even pellets.
The capacity and type of a capsule needed get determined by the kind of ingredient filled during the capsule-filling process in the pharma industry.
The technical specifications, the process of packing, and the final packing ingredient determine the type of capsule finally used in the packaging process.
The following are different types of cap in the pharmaceutical industry,
Hard Gelatin Capsule
This capsule contains medicine as a dry powder or small pellets. Apart from tablets, oral medications include hard gelatin caps filled with powder. Depending upon the formula of the ingredient and user requirements, the pharma companies seal powders, pellets, or granules into the cap.
Soft Gelatin Capsules
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An aqueous solution where the solvent is water produces soft gelatin capsules. It is vital for the pharma industry.
Gelatin Capsule And Vegetable Capsules
The casings that get used to making the capsules are cellulose. Cellulose is obtained from plants or animals. Gelatin capsules are from cows, fish, or pigs, whereas vegetable capsules get made from plants.
Apart from the gelatin and vegetable capsules, the capsules also contain lubricants, preservative ingredients, and coloring agents.
Capsule Filling Machine
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A capsule-filling machine gets called a capsule filler or an encapsulation machine. It helps fill empty capsules with pharma ingredients as per the required dosage.
This appliance gets classified into the following categories according to its uses and functions.
Professional Capsule Filling Machine
This appliance gets used in the pharma industry, where bulk production and high efficiency are required. It usually is an automatic appliance that fills ingredients or medications into the capsules.
Personal Capsule Filling Machine
Wherever small-scale production of capsules is required, this appliance gets used. This capsule-filling machine allows an individual or small business to fill prescribed medications into the capsule package.
Types Of Capsule Filling Machines
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Many capsule-filling machines are available worldwide per capsules fillers’ requirements in the pharma industry. They get broadly classified into the following types,
- Manual capsule filling machine
- Semi-automatic capsule filling machine
- Automatic capsule filling machine
Capsule Machine Applications
A capsule-filling machine is helpful for industries producing medications in capsule form. This machine, also known as an encapsulation machine, has many applications. It gets used for packing empty capsules with powder or liquid material. A few of the significant applications of this machine include,
Filling Powder In Capsules
Packing powder is considered the most common application of capsule-filling machines. After crushing solid and dry material, the powder gets generated without involving any complex method. These machines have got simple structural designs when it comes to holders and other built-in systems.
Filling Tablets In Capsules
When compared to powders, tables are solid and more significant in dimensions. Cap filled with tablets are not the favorite of pharmaceutical industries, but they get used in clinical trials.
The capsule-filling machines have a unique dosing system that helps fill the cap with tablets. A cap can contain two to three tablets depending upon the capsule’s dimension.
Filling Pellets In Capsules
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Filling pellets in the cap is a significant application of capsule-filling machines. Many machines are available in the market for this particular application.
The speed used for packing the pellets in the cap is less when compared to the speed when packing the powder. Few changes must be made to the dosing system in the machine to achieve this task.
In today’s modern world of pharmacy, pellets are resourceful material that could get coated with multiple active ingredients. Combining incompatible ingredient components in a single cap is possible in this way.
Filling Granules In Capsules
Sometimes the pharmaceutical company finds difficulty in achieving the correct powder flow and ingredient consistency due to various factors.
Then granule packing machines come into play here. Here the granules coated with gastric-resistant polymers are loaded into the cap as per user requirement. The coating on the granules is essential, and the sensors in the packing appliance ensure it does not get damaged.
Filling Liquids In Capsules
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Capsule-filling machines that can fill the cap are required when liquid medication is needed to get filled inside the capsules.
Before filling the liquid in the capsules, the liquid ingredient’s viscosity spectrum gets considered, and the task gets performed.
Servo controlled liquid pumps are used by most of the liquid cap filling machines to get enhanced performance when filling liquid ingredients into the cap.
Filling Capsules With Combined Products
Few industries require capsule filling machines that can fill products with combinations like liquids, solid and semi-solid substance
Due to the versatility of the capsule-filling machine, these machines can perform various tasks without compromising their performance.
Industries can order customized capsule-filling machines as per requirements. This type of machine is needed when an ingredient does not dissolve completely in liquid. Here a machine that can handle liquid and semi-solid is required.
Conclusion
There are many applications of cap filling machines. The capsule-filling machine could be modified as required per the company’s requirements. The machine ensures that the filling powder, granules, or liquid maintains the same ingredient uniformity and competence while filling the cap. This machine ensures that the contents are compatible with the capsules.
Most businesses use automatic capsule-filling machines, and since these machines operate at high speed, regular inspection of their quality is required. It ensures the reduction of rejected capsules.
It could be seen that the applications of these machines vary depending upon the materials filled in the capsule. For a successful error-free operation, capsule filling machines should get bought from reputed dealers or manufacturers to ensure the machine’s accuracy and precision.
