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How EZ BLISTER outperforms a typical specification for a lab blisterpacker

Objectives for Lab-Scale Blister Packing Equipment:

1. To have a small laboratory or pilot scale blisterpacker
2. To provide high quality packing representative of commercial packing
3. To be suitable for packaging of clinical trial and stability trial batches, typically of 2,000 to 100,000 tablets or capsules
4. To have the option of sealing under vacuum or inert gas

EZ BLISTER 3-in-1 (forms-seals-cuts) blister packer provides high quality packing that is fully representative of commercial packing eg quality of appearance, sealing strength, batch coding, cutting and perforating, cold forming. It is designed to operate with all current blisterpacking materials.

The above batch sizes, if packed in 2x5 blisters, would represent batch sizes of 200 packs to 10,000 packs. The former could be made in about one hour using 1 or 2 packs per format and the latter in about 10 days, assuming an effective workday of 6 hours.

Specifications

Must handle both tablets and capsules:

EZ BLISTER can handle all known pharmaceutical forms including capsules, tablets, caplets, soft gel capsules, suppositories, ampoules etc.

Must seal PVC/foil and PVC-PVDC/foil:

EZ BLISTER handles all current materials including PVC, PVDC, ACLAR, ALU/ALU, polypropylene, paper backed foils, laminates etc.

Ideally also seal foil/foil platforms:

EZ BLISTER forms and seals ALU/ ALU (cold-form) as well as foil/foil (Disprin-type pack).

Rapid feeding of tablets/capsules into packs if possible:

The recommended method of feeding is extremely fast and convenient.

Must automatically or semi-automatically form platforms (blisterpacks), cut them to size and emboss them with a batch number:

All of these operations take place automatically with hand feed and with a tool change between. Sealing and coding take place in a single operation. Once the settings have been made, no operator skill is required to produce satisfactory results.

Perforations and slit lines on platforms are required:

The EZ BLISTER performs these operations.

Must have the capability of sealing under vacuum or inert gas:

EZ BLISTER can be supplied with a vacuum flushing chamber to permit sealing under vacuum or inert gas.

Must produce at least 400 platforms per hour:

400 platforms per hour = 7 platforms per minute . Running at 2 or 3 blisters per format this is achievable on EZ BLISTER.

Platform size must be at least 130mm x 50mm:

EZ BLISTER accommodates platform sizes up to 260 x 150mm.

Must have variable control over forming and sealing temperatures/pressures:

EZ BLISTER offers complete control over all critical parameters during the blisterpack operation with:
1. Separate electronic control for dwell time on pre-heating, forming, sealing/cutting.
2. Extremely accurate temperature control.
3. A cut-out device which does not allow the unit to function if the chosen temperature has not been achieved.
4. Separate pressure control for preheating, forming and sealing/cutting.

Once set for a particular material there is no need to alter the setting during operation. The operator only has to press the start button and the machine does the rest itself.

Fast changeover between different products or platform materials (ideally less than 30 minutes):

Changeover time is 2-3 minutes. All tooling is quick release. Starting from cold, a warm-up time of 10-15 minutes (depending on chosen temperature) is required for thermo-forming or sealing. With cold-form the unit can be used to form immediately after set-up. The tooling is self-aligning so that no adjustments are required.

Ideal unit dimensions: weight=500 kg; height=1.5 metre; length=2.0 metres; width=1.0 metre:

EZ BLISTER weighs 250kg. Dimensions are: H 1.36 metres x 0.75 metre x 0.83 metre. The unit is mobile and can be wheeled away for storage when not required.

Conclusion

EZ BLISTER, lab scale blister packer, outperforms the requirements of laboratories in quality, performance and flexibility. It is simple to operate and conveniently mobile.