A beautiful opening 

Crailsheim, Germany A wallet is only as attractive as the way it is folded. To achieve high, lasting quality during ongoing production is truly a demanding task for any machine. Bayer Schering Pharma AG was looking for a packaging line for one of its birth control pills that meets this criterion without compromising efficiency and flexibility. Their preferred supplier was Gerhard Schubert GmbH in Crailsheim, Germany.  

Anyone who has ever carried with them a box of medicine knows that this type of package is better kept on the bathroom shelf. So it's no wonder that patients appreciate wallets, i.e. handy folding cards with glued-in blisters, as a practical alternative. 

Schering GmbH und Co. Produktions KG added the charm of a new, fresh look to its interpretation of this type of presentation. And the specialists at the Packaging Center in Weimar, Germany, were just as demanding in their specifications for the new packaging machine. It must glue in the blister in exactly the right position. The wallets are to have a clean finish without offset edges so that the folds are located exactly at right angles over each other. Further key data: The upstream machine from Uhlmann feeds in up to 330 products a minute, the line runs in two shifts and later capacity increases must be possible. 

Equipped for the packaging future  

Among the suppliers investigated, and from a pharmaceutical manufacturer's standpoint, Gerhard Schubert GmbH proved to be the most convincing. In addition to the quality of the finished packages it was also the high degree of flexibility which the TLM machine provides to its users that impressed. It is equipped so that new package sizes and patterns can be efficiently realized at any time. As a result, it is an effective long-term investment for Schering - both functionally and conceptionally. 

The machine currently processes two carton sizes combined with blisters containing various numbers of tablets. The wallets are each provided with a booklet, either as individual packages or together in stacks of three, five or six pieces, and transferred to the downstream machine ready stacked for subsequent wrapping. 

Size changes are completed in twenty minutes. The tools on the robot arms and the size-specific parts of the conveyors are quickly changed. The main changes take place on the software level, where it is merely a case of selecting a pre-installed program via the touch screen. This simplicity is provided by the TLM machine concept: the mechanical scope is reduced and the solution to the packaging problem is provided by an intelligent control system. 

Bending with counter-bearings  

All functions for GMP-conformant in-process checking, documentation and error escalation are integrated in the control system with its decentralized design. The data can be viewed via a standardized, clearly laid out user interface on the screen of the TLM machine. The Pago labeler, which applies the "bollini" required for the Italian market, is addressed via this interface. 

The control and drive concept gives flexibility. And it is partly about the secret of being able to attain the perfect fold. The Schubert wallet machine relies on intermittent motion. The transfer of carton blanks through the machine is briefly interrupted to facilitate the individual processes. However, these short stops are barely noticeable. 

The advantage of intermittent motion is that it permits high precision positioning of folding assist features along the crease lines. In comparison, continuous motion machines transfer the carton blanks at constant speed over folding ploughs. As a result, offsets in fold overlap occur due to friction and instability.

Dual-axis robots show what they can do  

The blisters are fed in on a single track for wallet production. Any curvatures of the blisters ("bi-metal effect") are corrected by a smoothing station. A product buffer with a buffer volume of eight minutes provides for an efficient interface to the upstream machine. The infeed belt transfers ten blisters into each of two independent sets of flights attached to the grouping chain. A TLM-F2 robot facilitates the transfer of each of these product collations onto vacuum charged transport shuttles. 

The carton blanks are automatically removed from a magazine and fed into the system in another sub-machine. The labels are pre-glued on the wallet card, and can therefore be processed on the machine without conversions. 

Getting the carton into shape  

This is the path to the blister setting station in which various processes are integrated. A scanner detects the pharmaceutical or 2D matrix code on the wallet cards. If the system discovers a faulty code, the corresponding wallet card is rejected during the next possible work cycle. The blanks that pass the check are glued. The coding applied by a laser printer (e.g. lot number and expiration date) is immediately verified by a camera. TLM-F2 robots remove the blisters from their transport carriers and, with the help of a centering template, accurately position them onto their respective carton blanks.  The further folding processes are carried out in steps. Counter pressure pads within the tool ensure a high accuracy in all folding operations along respective score lines. Two applied glue dots close the wallet An integrated Pago label dispenser applies a vignette (bollini) to the back of the wallet if necessary. 

All details recorded and checked  

 The finished wallets are grouped in the desired quantity and a booklet is laid on. This enables retail packs with a wide variety of tablet quantities to be produced.   A TLM-F2 robot places the finished stack in the conveyor chain of the film wrapping machine. 

As is usual for drug package production, the machine is equipped with processes for fault detection and documentation. As a result, when the carton blanks, blisters or booklets are placed, a sensor system on the robot tool verifies their presence and their position. The fact that the wallet really contains a tablet blister is checked by sensors following the first folding process. 

The codes on the bollini or on the booklet are read and the data is stored or made available for further processing. Corresponding escalation features are integrated for errors. These result in the rejection of patterns, products, etc. The VMS controller enables an intelligent specification of how such events are to be dealt with, e.g. with a machine stop. 

Great functionality in a small space 

All necessary routine checks are integrated in the high cycle rate of the machines of over 330 wallets a minute. And despite the complex requirements, the machine is a space-saving miracle - which is part of everyday life at Schubert. Built from eight sub-machines, its footprint is just 2.5 x 13 m. If you consider that these 13 meters contain a buffer for eight minutes of production, a wallet assembly system for 330 wallets a minute and an interface with grouping and booklet feed for the downstream machine, it’s a minor sensation. The additional devices, e.g. the laser printer and the labeler, are fully integrated for excellent utilization of the available space. 

Connection to the higher-level information systems (e.g. MES) has already been implemented. 

Those responsible for the project at Schering see their expectations as being completely confirmed after the first six months in which the line has proven itself in practice. Size changes don't result in long downtimes and following start-up there are no quality problems and the desired high level of efficiency is achieved. The result is a new, attractive drug package that fits nicely and looks good in any handbag.