Bosch Packaging Technology Presents Capsule Filling Equipment at Achema

At Achema 2018, Bosch Packaging Technology will present a high-precision capsule filling machine, the GKF 720, for small batches of hard capsules. A specially designed platform provides a fully automated, washable containment process. 

“The system has been specially tailored to the demands of manufacturers of highly potent solid pharmaceuticals,” said Benedict Kleine-Koenig, product manager at Bosch Packaging Technology, in a press release. “The OEB5 containment ensures the highest protection for the operator, machine, and product, while its minimal water requirements, 100% defective capsule detection, and compact design translate into additional cost savings.”

In the first cleaning stage of the GKF 720, the components that come into contact with the product are automatically cleaned from above with 200 mL of water, binding the highly potent residual dust. In the second stage, the processing area is manually flushed with a maximum of 10 L of water, completely ridding it of any product residue. The specially designed tabletop and the new dosing stations make sure that no water penetrates the machine room during cleaning. 

The GKF 720 is designed for processing powders, pellets, and tablets. For pellets and micro-dosed powders in particular, it features a patented, automatic height-adjusting pellet station and a manually height-adjustable dosing disk. Together with the Net Weight Detection System and the integrated gravimetric checkweigher, these features allow consistent in-process control (IPC). The regular adjustment of dosed amounts via IPC ensures a stable, capacitive measuring process throughout the production cycle.

The GKF 720 is equipped with a flexible plug-and-play station, which supports rapid switching, for instance from pellets to powders. “For our customers, the growing trend toward dosing different solids in small batches of capsules means frequent product changeovers at relatively short intervals,” said Kleine-Koenig in the press release. “The machine’s modular design offers them the highest possible flexibility: the system can be converted in less than five minutes. Moreover, the exchange of the modules is so simple and failsafe that even an inexperienced operator can do it.”

Source: Bosch Packaging Technology, Hall 3.1, Booth C71