Capsule

Filling
Machine

DR. Khairi Mustafa.

CoP AAU
 Capsules ..

“Capsules are solid dosage forms in which one or more

medicaments are enclosed in a water soluble bio degradable
shell made up of gelatin “
 Types of capsules ..

Hard – shelled capsule Soft – shelled capsule

Which are typically made using gelatin Used for oils and for active ingredients
And contain dry , powdered ingredients . that are dissolved or suspended in oil .

These are made in two halves :

- Lower diameter ( body ) that is filled
- Then sealed using a higher diameter ( cap
)
 Manufacturing of hard gelatin capsules ..

The process of capsule shell production with the pin method :

Dipping

Polishing Drying

Joining Stripping

Trimming
 Capsule filling machine

It is mechanical device that fills the powders ( active ingredients and the mixtures of active ingredients
with combinations of different excipients) into hard or soft gelatin capsules.

Capsules filling machines are used commonly in industrial and pharmaceutical purpose , millions of
capsules can be filled by using different varieties of capsule filling machines which are provided by
different manufactures .
• At present about 9 manufacturing companies supplies the capsule filling machines with
different models , The following famous companies which provides capsule filling machines
are :

• Eli Lilly and company Indianapolis IN

• Farmatic SNC, Bologna, Italy
• Macofar SAS, Bologna, Italy
• Hilfiger and Karg, Waiblingen, Germany
• mG2 S.P.A., Bologna, Italy
• Osaka, Osaka, Japan
• Parke-Davis and company, Detroit, MI
• Perry Industries, Green Bay WI
• Zanasi Negris, S.P.A., Bologna, Italy

The largest number of total machines are supplied by Lilly and

Parke-Davis. The method of operation and the description of
the machines are similar in these two companies.
 Hard capsule filling

1) Bench scale filling ( for small scale filling )

- Manual filling machine , eg : feton capsule filling machine
 Hand operated capsule filling machine

It consist of a bed having 200-300 hole, a loading tray having

200-300 holes, a powder tray, a pin plate having 200-300 pins,
a sealing plate having a rubber top, a lever, a cam handle.
The empty capsules are filled in the loading tray and it is
placed over the bed. The cam handle is operated to separate
the capsule caps from their bodies.

With a 200-hole machine, about 5000 capsules can be filled in one hour,
whereas in a machine having 300 holes, about 7500 capsules can be
filled in one hour.
 Hard capsule filling

2) Industrial scale filling

comes in varying shapes and sizes
- semi automatic machine
- fully automatic machine
Semi automatic machine
 The first station : orientation of capsules ..

The functions of first station include :

1. capsule feeding
2. Aligning
3. insertion into bores of holding ring
4. vacuum is used for separating capsule cap
and body in first station.
5. After orientation of capsule, capsule cap
can stay in upper holding ring and capsule
body can stay in lower holding ring.
 THE SECOND STATION: POWDER FILLING ..

Separate the holding ring, put the lower (body) holding

ring on the rotary table, pull the powder hopper over
the lower
(body) holding ring, then auger inside powder hopper
starts to run
and fill powder into the capsule body.
While lower holding ring turns one circle, push powder
hopper to its original position.
 THE THIRD STATION: CAPSULE CLOSING ..

Put upper holding ring and lower holding ring

together, then position intact holding ring in
front of peg ring .closing plate is pivoted to a
position approximately 180 degrees
Pneumatic pressure is applied to peg ring
which finally push capsules inside the bores
of holding ring the finished capsules will be
collected into the container.
semi automatic machine

Capsugel PD8 capsule filler

Used for hard Gel capsule filler .

 semi automatic machine

OSAKA

 High capacity, continuous motion machine.

 The only model available is R-180 : 70000
to165000 capsules per hour
 Can be modified to 400000 capsules per hour.
 Fully automatic machine
 The housing and surface are covered with stainless steel 304. All contact parts of medical powders are made from
a corrosion resistant stainless steel 316.
 Parts are made by CNC computer machine , All parts are standardized and easy to substitute.
 Capable of filling 6 capsules at a time with operation from 10 stations. Accurate operation for orientation, opening,
filling, joining and ejecting of the capsules
 Compulsory spiral feeding in the powder hopper to ensure powder feeding and filling.
 Dual capsule-opening design to ensure all capsules are opened.
 Electrical impact protection device to prevent any further damage. The machine will stop automatically in the
event of collision.
 Safety Sensing System to shut the machine down automatically in the event of problems when no capsules, no
powder, door is opened, and abnormal load for the machine are detected.
 Automatic vacuum removal of the air in the dosing tube to give more accurate weight of the filled capsules.
 Exclusive dosing tube system, temperature of the powder will not rise during the filling process.
 Adjustable compression piston in dosing trube to adjust the powder volume without change parts.
Fully automatic machine
 Fully automatic machine

MACOFAR mG2

• Macofar line of equipment's consists of three Five models of continuous motion filling machines
models. are offered by mG2.
• Low to medium capacity machines
Model : Capacity :
Model : Capacity : • G36/4 150 capsules per minute
MT-12 35,000 capsules per hour • G36/2 300
MT-13/1 5,000 capsules per hour • G36 600
MT-13/2 10,000 capsules per hour • G37N 1600
• G38 1000
 Fully automatic machine
ZANASI
 Nine different units in four model lines
• LZ-64 : 4000 capsules per hour
• AZ-20 : 9000 TO 20000 capsules per hour
 BZ series
• BZ-40 : 30000/hr.
• BZ-72 : 60000/hr.
• BZ-110 : 110000/hr.
• BZ-150 : 150000/hr.
 Z-5000 series
• Z-5000-R1 : 70000/hr.
• Z-5000-R2 : 110000/hr.
• Z-5000-R3 : 150000/hr.
 Fully automatic machine

This liquid capsule filling machine is used for filling the

liquid and pallet other granule into the capsule.

Model
NJP-130

Capacity ( capsule/min) Max 130pcs/min

Capsule Size No.00-5

Filling rate =>99%

Power 5.7kw

Vacuum pump 0.02-0.06Mpa

Noise <80dBA
Dust collector 700m3/H, 2X105pa, 350*700*1000mm,
40kg

Oversize and weight of machine 700*600*1970mm, 700kg

 Fully automatic machine

Dott bonapace capsule filler

Used for hard Gel capsule filler .

 Manual filling method
 Used for filling a small number of capsules in the pharmacy, at the
prescription counter.
 The ingredients are triturated to fine & uniform powder.
 The powder is placed on a powder paper or ointment slab and
smoothed with a spatula to a height approximately half the length
of the capsule body
 references

 Lachman and Lieberman – The Theory and Practice of Industrial Pharmacy 4th edition
 http://www.icapsulepack.com/p/Capsule-Filling-Machine
 http://fedequipblog.fedequip.com/types-automatic-capsule-filling-machines/
 https://www.who.int/medicines/publications/pharmacopoeia/Caps-GeneralMono-rev-
FINAL_31032011.pdf