Pharmaworks Unveils Two Blister Machines, Robotic Feeder

Pharmaworks, Inc. (Odessa, FL) has announced the release of the TF1e blister packaging machine. Built on the success of the TF1 blister machine, the TF1e has an increased format range (170 mm x 90 mm vs. 130 mm x 80 mm). The company is positioning the TF1e as an affordable, small footprint machine, well suited for today’s quick changeover demands.
 
“Customer feedback on the original TF1 has been tremendous over the years. But we heard our customers asking for the same combination of flexibility and capability in a larger format machine,” said Peter Buczynsky, President of Pharmaworks. “We believe the small footprint is a big advantage for a machine that can do almost anything.”
 
Standard features include multi-zone contact heating, servo station actuation, seal pressure monitoring, and HMI control of draw depth, as well as station pressure and servo indexing. Options include scanware brand tablet/print vision and various printer technologies and feeder options tailored to customer needs.
 
In addition, the company has unveiled the TF3 blister machine. The TF3 has a format range of 290 mm x 220 mm, which allows it to equally run shallow formats (dry solid pharmaceuticals) as well as formats as deep as 40mm (medical device). Advanced index cooling, as well as programmable die punch ratios, give the machine superior flexibility for contractors and brand pharmaceutical packagers alike.
 
 “Finally, no compromising between efficiency and flexibility” states Ingo Federle, Technical Director. “This machine is efficient regardless of blister size or material type.”
 
Standard features include multi-zone contact heating, servo station actuation, seal pressure monitoring, sealing overload detection and HMI control of draw depth, as well as station pressure and servo indexing. The machine also incorporates laser seal and laser punch registration. Options include scanware brand tablet/print vision and various printer technologies and feeder options tailored to customer needs. The TF3 has been designed to the latest safety, maintenance and GMP standards.
 
With the RF1 Robotic Feeder, Pharmaworks has developed a high speed dedicated feeder that addresses the industry need for a dedicated feeder that can run all types of dry solid products smoothly, while maintaining lower cost tooling.
 
Traditional tube-type dedicated feeders can have problems including: tablets not loading into tubes, shingling within feeder tubes and poor product lay-down in the blister web. The Pharmaworks RF1 addresses all three areas, the company says.
 
Products are no longer stacked in tubes, but rather are vibrated horizontally in tracks. Servo controlled actuators pick product from the tracks and place them gently and precisely into the blister cavities. The servo-based pick-and-place allows quick, on-the-fly changes, increasing efficiency. The feeder is able to feed products at more than 75 cycles per minute on the Pharmaworks TF1e blister machine. Change parts are simple to install and clean.
 
At Pack Expo 2010, Pharmaworks will feature scanware brand 3-D inspection technology on their new TF1e thermoformer. The LYNX-SPECTRA 3D is the world’s first pharmaceutical vision system on the market that allows inspection of an object in three dimensions. 
 
This latest scanware innovation performs true three dimensional volume analysis on products in blister packs, which is significantly better than color detection alone in many situations, as in the case of detecting capped or sheared product defects and for low-contrast inspection tasks.
 
“The scanware LYNX-SPECTRA 3D creates completely new possibilities for quality control in pharmaceutical manufacturing,” said Buczynsky. “We couldn’t be more pleased to be able to integrate this technology into our new thermoformer machines or as field upgrades to existing thermoformer machinery.”