Discussion on the selection technology and use of drug cartoning box packing machine

Discussion on the selection technology and use of drug cartoning box packing machine

Due to the ability to complete all or part of the packaging production process, compared with the traditional manual packaging production in the past, the medical cartoning machine has many obvious advantages:

1) The equipment meets the GMP requirements of pharmaceutical production, ensures the health and safety of products, and improves the packaging quality;

2) It greatly improves labor productivity and reduces production cost, especially in the case of large-scale continuous production, proper equipment selection and reasonable process arrangement;

3) It reduces the labor intensity of operators, greatly improves the working conditions and protects the health of workers.

1 packaging production line equipment and main process flow

1.1 packaging production line equipment

Packaging production line equipment mainly includes direct packaging machinery and external packaging machinery. Choosing different collocation of the two kinds of machines can complete the products with different packaging degree.

Pharmaceutical direct packaging machinery can be divided into: Pharmaceutical printing machinery, bottle packaging machinery, bag packaging machinery, blister packaging machinery, wax shell packaging machinery, beverage packaging machinery.

The external packaging machinery of drug packaging can be divided into: packaging machinery, horizontal soft bag packaging machine, drug packaging printing machinery, drug packaging labeling machinery, film shrink packaging machine, pharmaceutical transparent film packaging machine, pharmaceutical pillow packaging machine, large packaging machinery.

1.2 main process flow of packaging production line

Different drugs have different requirements for packaging and corresponding supporting equipment. It is very important to make a reasonable technological process of the packaging line. Choosing more packaging processes will cause unnecessary waste, and choosing less packaging processes will not guarantee the quality of products

At present, the main technological process of the packaging production line is direct packaging, packaging, heat shrinkage (or wrapping), and packaging of drugs. It can be said that the cartoning machine is the basis of the whole packaging production line, and it is also the necessity to realize the modern pharmaceutical post packaging production.

2 selection and use of cartoning machine

2.1 selection technology of box loader

The cartoning machine is a machine that can complete the opening, inserting the instruction manual, and loading and sealing the bottles, blisters, hoses and other pharmaceutical packages. It mainly includes: manual folding machine, multi-functional folding machine, continuous tongue inserting machine and intermittent tongue inserting machine. In recent years, due to the improvement of domestic control technology, the box loader has made great innovation and development, and the design of the equipment is more reasonable, practical and convenient to operate.

The medical cartoning machine is different from other cartoning machines and has its particularity. According to Article 4603 of GMP certification, inspection and evaluation standard for drugs, drug packages printed with the same content as the label shall be managed according to the label. That is to say, the management of drug outer packing box is the same as that of label. Based on the particularity of medicine outer packing box, the particularity of medicine packing machine is extended.

Compared with other cartoning machines, the special points of the medical cartoning machine are: 1) insert the drug instructions; 2) print the production date, product batch number, expiry date, etc. (such as the supervision code of special drugs) randomly in the cartons; 3) count and statistics of cartoning (shall meet the requirements of quantity distribution in article 4703 of GMP certification, inspection and evaluation standard for drugs); 4) quality inspection of drugs in inner packaging; 5) adapt to the requirements of batch change / time. For other cartoning machines, these special points need not be fully achieved.

2.1.1 form, structure, specification and model of the box loader

It can be divided into horizontal and vertical according to the way of the package entering the paper box. Among them, the machine that pushes the package into the paper box horizontally is called horizontal, and the machine that the package enters the paper box vertically is called vertical. At present, most of them are horizontal.

According to the sealing form of the final carton, it can be divided into tongue type, adhesive type, mixed type, labeling type, unfolding type, self-locking type, etc.

According to the shape of the package, it can be divided into plate shape (such as blister packaging), bottle shape, hose shape, special shape, etc.

According to the specifications of the package, it can be divided into single piece, double piece, multiple pieces, and combination pieces (such as 1 antibiotic bottle powder injection + 1 ampoule water needle), etc.

According to the structure, it can be divided into intermittent type and continuous type. Among them, the model with linear reciprocating stroke action is called intermittent type, and the model with cyclic stroke action is called continuous type.

The main body of the specifications and models of the cartoning machine is generally named according to the design speed of the equipment. According to the speed classification of professionals, 60-120 boxes / minute are classified as medium and low speed type, 150-180 boxes / minute are classified as medium and high speed type, 200-300 boxes / minute are classified as high speed type, and more than 350 boxes / minute are classified as ultra-high speed type. Among them, 60-80 boxes / min are mainly cam structure, most of them are intermittent type. The advantages are compact structure, strong adaptability, and the disadvantages are not easy to adjust and low speed; 80-120 boxes / min are mainly mechanical cam structure, most of them are intermittent type. The advantages are relatively stable operation, convenient adjustment, wide application field, and the disadvantages are that the rotary carton forming and unfolding mechanism can not adapt to the change of speed; the 150 ~ 200 boxes / min is mainly mechanical continuous working mechanism, with the advantages of high operation speed, and the disadvantages are strong pertinence in use and strict requirements for packaging materials. 280 ~ 300 boxes / min are mainly controlled by advanced mechanical and servo technologies.

Before selection, users must start from their actual needs, do some research work carefully, and carry out a comprehensive and careful comparative analysis of similar products from the physical object, technical data and related information, so as to select the box loader suitable for their own use.

So what should be considered in the selection of medical cartoning machine? I understand that: first of all, according to the situation of the packed object, what shape is the packed object, which is plate (such as blister packaging), bottle, hose or special shape。

2.1.2 comparative analysis

There are many kinds of domestic drug cartoning machines with complex structure and more and more manufacturers. According to statistics, there are more than 30 professional manufacturers. Because the technical level of design and manufacturing of each manufacturer is uneven, and the requirements of using enterprises are also different, the comparative analysis of model selection is particularly important. In the detailed comparative analysis of the technical data and relevant information of the cartoner, it is suggested to pay more attention to the following aspects:

1) Continuous and stable production capacity. This is a key technical index. The production capacity marked in the product data generally refers to the maximum design production capacity of the equipment theory. Therefore, for the object to be purchased, it is better to know its continuous and stable actual production capacity, so as to correctly calculate the future production scale, or calculate the production scale according to 60% - 80% of the theoretical maximum design production capacity;

2) Manufacturing quality of equipment. No matter how good the design is, it needs to be processed and manufactured to become a real object. If the manufacturing quality fails to meet the standard, the overall accumulated error of the equipment will be large, which will bring difficulties to the future operation and maintenance. The equipment is also easy to wear and tear, and the expected production effect cannot be achieved;

3) Size range of carton and instruction manual. In the future, the size of the cartons and instructions required by the machine must be within the range allowed by the selected equipment, otherwise the cartons cannot be packed;

4) Requirements for packaging materials of cartoning machine. The requirements of the packing machine on the packing materials directly affect the operation cost of the packing machine. If the requirements of the packing materials are higher or lower, the cost of the packing materials will rise or fall. Although the value of the rise or fall of a single carton or a manual is not large, the number of long-term operation accumulation is quite considerable, which can not be ignored;

5) Opening carton and sending instruction. Different ways of opening paper box have different requirements for the quality of paper box. The ideal way of opening paper box can reduce the requirements for the quality of paper box. The ideal way to send instructions can greatly reduce the scrap rate. The two links of opening carton and sending instructions are smooth, which largely determines the continuous and stable production speed;

6) Automatic control function. The selection of automatic detection function and protection function is very important. Now, most of the cartoning machines have the function of detecting that when the previous production link is abnormal, the next production link will not act, so as to avoid waste and intuitively find equipment failure. For such detection functions, the number of different equipment settings is different, so it is necessary to understand them carefully. When the equipment is in the state of overload, if the equipment has the function of automatic overload protection, then the equipment can be protected to avoid damage to the equipment;

7) The workload of parts to be adjusted when changing varieties. When changing varieties, the number of parts to be adjusted is different, and the auxiliary working hours required are different. In general, the more parts are adjusted, the longer the auxiliary working hours are, and the more matching accuracy needs to be achieved.

8) Whether maintenance and routine maintenance are convenient. The difficulty of maintenance and routine maintenance puts forward corresponding requirements for operation skills. At the same time, pay attention to observe the equipment mechanism to see whether the maintenance space is fully considered in the design, so as to facilitate the disassembly and assembly in the future maintenance;

9) Supply of accessories. The timeliness and reliability of parts supply directly affect the normal production of the dressing box machine;

10) After sales service commitment. Whether the after-sales service is in place in time is one of the indispensable important guarantees for the normal operation of the equipment in the future.

2.2 use of cartoning machine

After the correct and reasonable selection of the type, the correct and reasonable use, operation and maintenance of the cartoner can extend the service life of the cartoner and further play its due role. In the process of using the equipment, there are quite a number of failures, which are caused by improper operation and untimely maintenance.

When using the cartoner, it is recommended to pay more attention to the following aspects:

1) The packaging material supplier shall be required to provide standardized packaging materials in strict accordance with industry standards and user requirements, and ensure that these qualified packaging materials do not go out of shape during the temporary storage and transportation process, so as to ensure the on-board rate;

2) Before using the equipment, the operator shall carefully read the operation manual and operation procedures of the cartoner, and be familiar with its performance and the use method of the control part;

3) Before starting the machine, the position of the mould shall be adjusted correctly, and the equipment shall be idled first to confirm that the sound is normal and the lubrication is good before normal operation;

4) Check the packaging materials to be used to avoid adhesion. If such situation is found, handle it in time. Otherwise, it will affect the operation rate and produce too many waste products;

5) The speed of cartoning machine has influence on product quality and equipment life. Generally, when the size of paper box is large, slow speed is selected, while the appropriate size of paper box can select fast speed;

6) It is not allowed to dismantle the machine parts on the equipment at will. In case of large vibration or abnormal noise of the machine during use, stop the machine immediately for inspection and continue to use after troubleshooting;

7) Regularly check and maintain the easily worn parts to prevent the damage of individual parts from affecting the performance of the whole machine;

8) Before shutdown, reduce the operation speed of the cartoner as much as possible, and then stop the machine;

9) According to the requirements of the operation manual, the box loader shall be maintained regularly to ensure the normal daily use of the equipment and extend the service life of the equipment.

3 conclusion

With the increasing scale of China's drug market, the market demand for drug cartoning machine will continue to increase. Choosing advanced equipment with good performance and convenient operation is the goal of equipment using.