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Tablet Press Machine Applications and Ultimate Buying Guide

Jul 12, 2024

Basic principles and classification of tablet press

1. What is a tablet press

A tablet press is a mechanical device specially designed to compress dry granular or powdered materials into tablets by pressure.

It is widely used in many industries such as pharmaceuticals, food, chemicals, and cosmetics, and is mainly used to produce tablets, sugar tablets, calcium tablets, chewing gum tablets, seasoning tablets, catalyst tablets and other products.

 

tablet press machine

 

2. Working principle of tablet press

The basic working principle of tablet press is to compress the material in the mold through one or several pairs of punches (upper and lower punches), and then form tablets of the same size and shape.

 

tablet press working

 

3. Working process of tablet press

The material is first fed into the mold through the feeder, and then the upper and lower punches move vertically relative to each other, thereby applying pressure to the material for extrusion. The shape and size of the compressed material are based on different customization of the mold. After compression, the tablet is ejected from the mold to form a discharge. The subsequent process generally needs to be connected to a tablet screen for dust removal and polishing, and a metal detector to reject tablets that exceed the standard, which is convenient for subsequent tablet packaging, such as connecting a tablet counting machine for tablet counting and bottling, and connecting to a blister packaging machine for blister packaging.

 

4. Main types of tablet press

Single punch tablet press: Usually used in laboratories or small batch production, it uses a cam or eccentric wheel connecting rod mechanism to make the upper and lower punches produce relative movement to press tablets.

 

Multi-punch rotary tablet press: This type of tablet press drives multiple molds to perform vertical reciprocating motion through a rotating turntable to achieve a continuous tableting process, which is suitable for medium to large batch production.

 

rotary tablet press

 

High-speed tablet press: High-speed rotary tablet press: Similar to the rotary tablet press, but the turntable has a higher rotation speed, which can achieve very high production efficiency and is suitable for large-scale industrial production.

 

high speed tablet press

 

Special-purpose tablet press: Such as double-layer tablet press, special-shaped tablet press, etc., are used to produce tablets with special shapes or structures.

 

 

Industry application of tablet press

Tablet presses manufacture a wide variety of products in different industries. Here are some specific examples:

 

Pharmaceutical industry

This is the most widely used field for tablet presses, mainly for the manufacture of pharmaceutical tablets, including ordinary tablets, controlled-release tablets, effervescent tablets, etc.

 

pharmaceutical tablets

 

Typical products

Ordinary tablets: This is the most common form of tablets, covering a wide range of categories from antipyretic analgesics (such as aspirin, ibuprofen), antibiotics (such as amoxicillin), cardiovascular drugs (such as antihypertensive drugs) to psychiatric drugs (such as antidepressants).

Controlled-release tablets: This type of tablet is designed for slow release of drugs to extend the effective time of drugs in the body and reduce the number of medications, such as drugs for chronic disease management, such as diabetes treatment drugs.

Effervescent tablets: Containing sodium bicarbonate and organic acids, they react to produce carbon dioxide when in contact with water. They are often used in cold medicines, digestive medicines, etc. to increase the solubility and absorption rate of drugs.

 

Health care products industry

With the rise and popularization of the concept of health, the demand for tablet presses in the health care products industry is also growing.

 

health care tablets

 

Typical products

Vitamin tablets: such as vitamin C tablets and multivitamin tablets, which are used to supplement vitamins that may be lacking in the daily diet.

Mineral tablets: such as calcium tablets and iron tablets, which are used to supplement the minerals needed by the human body and prevent osteoporosis, anemia, etc.

Herbal extract tablets: such as ginseng tablets and ganoderma tablets, which use the medicinal ingredients of plants to enhance immunity or assist in the treatment of certain diseases.

 

Food industry

The demand for tablet presses in the food industry is mainly reflected in the special safety requirements for equipment, as well as flexibility, which needs to meet the production needs of being able to quickly change molds to adapt to different products.

 

Typical products

Hard candy: mints of various shapes and sizes, fruit-flavored candies, etc.

Milk tablets and chocolate tablets: such as milk tablet candy, milk tablet chocolate, etc.

Solid beverages and condiments: such as instant coffee tablets, tea tablets, etc.

Cooking condiment tablets: such as chicken essence blocks, seasoning blocks.

Special foods: such as compressed biscuits, energy bars, etc., which are usually used as portable food in outdoor adventures or military operations.

 

Chemical Industry

Tablet presses with high corrosion resistance, high temperature resistance, explosion-proof and safety performance have been applied in the chemical industry.

 

chemical tablets

 

Typical products

Catalyst tablets: Catalyst tablets used in chemical processes such as petroleum refining, synthetic ammonia, synthetic rubber, etc., such as nickel catalyst tablets, molybdenum catalyst tablets, etc.

Fertilizer tablets: used in agricultural production, such as nitrogen fertilizer tablets, phosphate fertilizer tablets, potassium fertilizer tablets, etc., which are convenient for farmers to apply on demand.

The above is the current major classification of tablet press applications. With the continuous advancement of technology, its application scope and the types of products manufactured will become more.

 

Key factors for tablet press selection

In the above content, a brief introduction has been made to the types of tablet presses. How to choose a more suitable tablet press to match the actual needs in order to achieve the purpose of improving production efficiency, ensuring product quality, and reducing costs, etc., needs to be selected based on the following key factors.

 

1. Production demand

Output and scale

First, clarifying the expected production volume is the first step in selection. It is a suitable choice for laboratories and small-scale production to purchase manual or single-punch tablet presses. Large-scale continuous production that needs to improve production efficiency requires high-speed, fully automatic, multi-punch rotary tablet presses.

 

types of rotary tablet press

 

Types of tablet products

Different industries have different requirements for tablets. For example, the pharmaceutical industry focuses on the consistency, hardness and sustained release time of tablets; the food industry may pay more attention to the taste and appearance of tablets. Therefore, the applicability of the tablet press needs to match the product characteristics.

 

2. Technical specifications

Pressure range

The pressure of the tablet press is a very important parameter, which determines the type of processable materials and the hardness of the tablets. Understanding the optimal compression pressure of the material and choosing the right machine model are the prerequisites for ensuring tablet quality.

 

Custom molds

Custom molds are the key to achieving tablet size and shape, and the core parameters are the diameter and thickness of the tablet. Although the tablet press is a multi-purpose machine, different tablets can be produced by replacing different molds on a machine, but the size and number of molds that the turntable can accommodate are very important foundations.

 

3. Equipment performance and reliability

Automation level

For medium and large enterprises, medium and large batch production, and pharmaceutical factory production, it is recommended to choose a highly intelligent and automated tablet press, so as to reduce manual intervention, reduce production costs, and improve production accuracy and consistency.

 

Maintenance and cleaning

In the pharmaceutical and food industries, tablet presses that can ensure the hygienic standards of the production process are more popular. Meeting high standards of hygienic requirements requires that the machine is easy to maintain and clean.

High-end tablet presses have realized PLC one-button operation to lift the turntable and automatically move it to the outside of the machine, so that the operator can easily remove the mold for cleaning and maintenance, which fully reduces downtime and reduces maintenance costs.

 

plc tablet press

 

Durability

The turntable and mold of the tablet press are parts that are constantly subjected to collision and friction during long-term operation. To reduce long-term operating costs, the service life of these two parts is a very important point. The tablet press turntable we manufacture is forged with QT600 ductile iron. After 12 months of internal stress release, it is stable as new even after more than ten years of use. The mold is made of GCR15 material, which is wear-resistant, pressure-resistant and corrosion-resistant, and can easily achieve larger diameters and tablet thicknesses.

 

4. Compliance with regulations and standards

Industry standards and certifications

When you purchase a tablet press, you need to ensure that the selected tablet press meets relevant industry standards, such as GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice). If you are using it in the European market, the machine must meet CE, RoHS, EMC, LVD, etc. The requirements in the North American market are the highest. In addition to the standards mentioned above, you not only need to obtain FDA certification, but also need to find a tablet press that meets UL and CSA certification.

 

Hardware safety

The tablet press should be equipped with complete safety devices, such as multiple emergency stop buttons to ensure the safety of operators, isolation shields to isolate materials from cross-contamination with the external environment, etc.

 

5. After-sales service and technical support

Supplier reputation

Choosing a professional manufacturing supplier with a good market reputation and many years of industry experience network can provide you with timely and effective support in equipment installation, commissioning, maintenance and upgrades.

We have been deeply involved in the pharmaceutical and packaging fields in China for more than 30 years, with a registered capital of 10 million yuan. Our main products cover the entire process of solid preparations, such as capsule filling machines, tablet presses, multi-tablet bottle production lines, blister packaging machines and automatic high-speed cartoning machines. We have established overseas service centers in Hong Kong, France and the United States. With superior machine quality and perfect service attitude, we have reached long-term cooperation with Fortune 500 companies, including GSK, UCB, USPharma, Robison-Pharma, etc.

If you want to find a reliable tablet press supplier, we look forward to your contact with us and hope to become your loyal friend and partner.

 

Training and Documentation

Your machine manufacturing supplier should provide detailed operation manuals and videos as well as necessary operation training to ensure that users can fully understand the various functions of the equipment as well as daily use and maintenance guidelines.

 

In the current market, especially when you purchase in the Chinese market, you will find that few suppliers can provide standardized operation manuals and video guides. This is the current situation. When there is a problem with the machine, you cannot solve it in the first time and must contact the other party. You will waste a lot of waiting and remote connection time, affecting production efficiency and increasing time costs.

 

Our company has a 21-year R&D and technical team. We have standard and detailed operation and maintenance manuals and configuration videos in Chinese and foreign languages ​​for all our models. The purpose of doing this is to provide customers with the most responsible service.

 

Conclusion

As a production equipment, the selection of a tablet press is not a simple matter, but requires comprehensive consideration based on its own needs and the comprehensive strength of the supplier. Through the above introduction to the application and types of tablet presses in various industries, we hope that these can provide you with the knowledge you want to know, so that you can make a more scientific and reasonable decision. If you have any other aspects you want to know, please do not hesitate to contact us.

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