Piccola PLC-C Rotary Tablet Press, Containment, GMP Compliant

The Piccola PLC-C rotary tablet press, The only rotary tablet press designed for integration into a containment chamber featuring an isolation zone for tabletting and a separate mechanical area for the motor and gear box. A variable length sealed drive shaft allows the two areas to be separated according to the design of the containment. Even the Allen Bradley Panel View computer can be remotely located for convenient HMI.

The Piccola is a 6-ton rotary tablet press that can fit on a tabletop. The press uses standard B or D tooling. The press with SMI instrumentation is designed to simplify the development process.

The Piccola with "The Director" data acquisition and analysis system will shorten development time and help solve formulation problems. Detailed analysis of individual compression events enhance the understating of the compaction process. SMI instrumentation of ejection and take off forces can assist in lubrication studies. Compaction profiles are generated in minutes.

The Piccola with its larger turret diameter, pre compression and variable speed allow for realistic scale up to larger rotary presses. The dual paddle feed system helps maintain uniform die fill and represents production equipment. With the large variable speed range and "The Director", strain rate sensitivity studies will predict how the formulation will behave in production.

At 60,000 tablets per hour the Piccola can easily produce small or specialized production runs. The 30-minute tooling change over makes the Piccola especially attractive when smaller batches are required. The Piccola is small enough to be installed in a glove box.

The leader in compaction instrumentation since the introduction of its first system in 1984, SMI continues to advance the technology of tablet production. Major corporations worldwide purchase the SMI products and services. SMI has set the standard in this market.

The Piccola with "The Director" will generate a Compaction Study with as little as 50 grams of material. A Strain Rate Sensitivity Study will determine how the formulation will run in production.

Options

• Pre-Compression Force Transducer
• Take-Off Force Transducer

Containment System

SMI's containment systems are uniquely designed to meet the needs of our clients. Below is only an example of what we believe to be a popular set of features for such a containment system; however, SMI will work to satisfy any requirements that our clients my have with regard to a containment system for the Piccola PLC-C Tablet Press.

This example of a containment system reflects a Single Chamber Isolator, providing additional personnel protection during the operations of compression of dry potent powder compounds into tablets with the Piccola Rotary Tablet Press The controls shall be mounted outside of the system and will facilitate use by one operator and will be designed with 6 glove ports to aid the charging of the powders.

The Isolator provides a sanitary, cleanable design and operates at a negative pressure via the included fan & filter assembly. Interior surfaces are constructed with rounded corners, smooth interior surfaces and crevice avoiding surfaces.

Features:

• The isolator consists of a single containment chamber complete with a suitable removable support frame c/w adjustable support feet & castors.
• Construction from Grade 316L Stainless Steel.
• Isolator includes 3 x opening doors, 1 x front door & 2 x side doors are complete with glass panel and glove ports. This allows entry and exit for larger pieces of equipment, tools, utensils etc. on a clean unit at the start of the process.
• Two Glove ports are included on the front face, & two Glove ports are included on each of the side faces. Gloves are suitable for safe exchange into the isolator.
• Toughened Safety glass vision panel mounted in doors and also for light glass.
• Internal illumination by means of an externally mounted fluorescent light. Light tubes exchanged externally.
• Wash-in-place (WIP) system consisting of hand-operated wash gun and flexible hose c/w externally hand-operated ball valve.
• Base of Isolator will slope to drain and be complete with externally mounted hand operated valve.
• Supply air H14 HEPA filtration.
• Exhaust air double H14 HEPA filtration with pre filter.
• Supply and Exhaust valves are included on system for automatic pressure decay test.
• A fan assembly will be provided for the isolator to provide the required airflow and negative pressure. Fan discharge to atmosphere will be by others. Fan to operate with a VFD providing closed loop control for fan ramp-up in the event of breach of containment or lost glove. Fan currently mounted on board but can be remotely located if required.
• Differential Magnehelic pressure gauges are included for chamber depressurization and filter condition status.
• Tri-clover service connection/gland plate for service penetrations.
• 1 x 270 RTP Alpha assembly mounted on the side-wall of the isolator. Alpha part is located in the side wall of the isolator chamber.
• 1 x 270mm diameter Beta part with spigot for continuous liner is included. Port used for waste and or filter change and for material bagging-out.
• Pass Through Airlock with Interlocked hinged double door assembly to be located on the side of the isolator c/w single glove port for contained transfer of cleaning equipment etc into isolator chamber.
• Allen Bradley Micrologix PLC control system including Allen Bradley VFD suitably located on board the isolator.
• Strong Arm Panel for Allen Bradley touch screen
• A series of Magnehelic pressure gauges will be provided and mounted into the utility panel at the upper side of the Isolator chamber. A local HMI display (HMI provided by SMI) will be mounted in a 'StrongArm' assembly attached to the isolator.
• Suitable for general purpose, no rated electrical environment.
• Documentation