REMOVAL OF MATERIAL FROM A PREFORMED TABLET
A system and method of removing material from pharmaceutical tablets, utilizing mechanical or laser energy and a conveyance, to produce a score or other defect in said tablet.
1 . A method of removing material from a tablet after the tablet is formed, said method comprising:
a) providing a preformed tablet;
b) positioning said tablet and at least one de-massing device in positional relation to each other to enable formation of a scored tablet surface by said de-massing device;
c) removing material from said tablet using said de-massing device to form a scored surface in said tablet; and,
d) collecting said scored tablet.
2 . The method of claim 1 wherein said tablet is a pharmaceutical tablet.
3 . The method of claim 1 wherein said positioning step comprises conveying the tablet to the de-massing device to enable removal of tablet material by the de-massing device.
4 . The method of claim 1 , said method further comprising the step of orienting the tablet in a desired orientation prior to removing material from the tablet.
5 . The method of claim 1 wherein said method further comprises the step of dispensing the preformed tablet from a hopper prior to positioning and tablet material removal.
6 . The method of claim 1 wherein said material removing step is carried out using a de-massing device selected from the group consisting of a laser, a knife, a drill, and a file or rasp.
7 . The method according to claim 1 , said method comprising removing tablet material to form a score line for aiding in tablet breaking.
8 . The method of claim 7 comprising forming the score line in the underside of the tablet.
9 . The method of claim 7 wherein said score is formed in a single segment of a tablet comprising a plurality of segments.
10 . The method of claim 1 wherein said removal of tablet material provides at least two scores in the tablet surface.
11 . A composition produced by the method of claim 1 , said composition selected from the group consisting of a tablet, a pharmaceutical tablet, a tablette, and portions thereof.
12 . A system for removing tablet material to provide a scored tablet surface after the tablet is formed, said system comprising:
a) a de-massing station comprising at least one de-massing device for removing tablet material from a preformed tablet, and
b) a conveyer for positioning the preformed tablet and de-massing device in positional relation to enable formation of a scored surface in the tablet.
13 . The system according to claim 12 in which said de-massing device comprises cutting instrument selected from the group consisting of a laser, a rotating saw blade, a knife, a drill, and a file or rasp.
14 . The system of claim 12 wherein said conveyer comprises a carrier link.
15 . The system of claim 12 further comprising a tablet receptacle for receiving and holding said tablet during conveyance and tablet material removal.
16 . The system of claim 12 wherein said conveyer carries the preformed tablet to the tablet material removing station for removal of tablet material by the tablet material removing device.
17 . The system of claim 12 wherein said system comprises a scoring device as the de-massing device to form a score line in said tablet to aid in tablet breaking.
18 . The system of claim 17 wherein said system is adjustable for dimensionally adjusting the score formed by the scoring device.
19 . The system according to claim 12 in which a de-massing device is positioned to de-mass an underside of a pharmaceutical tablet.
20 . The system of claim 12 , said system further comprising a means for removing residual tablet material removed from the tablet by the de-massing device.
21 . The system of claim 12 , said system further comprising a vacuum aspirator.
22 . The system of claim 12 , said system further comprising a hopper for holding bulk preformed tablets prior to conveying the tablets to the de-massing station.
23 . The system of claim 12 , said system further comprising a dispensing means for dispensing preformed tablets from a hopper to a conveyer or tablet receptacle.
24 . The system of claim 12 , said system further comprising a tablet orienting device to orient the tablet in a desired orientation prior to removal of tablet material by the de-massing device.
25 . The system of claim 12 , said system further comprising a collection device for collecting scored tablets following formation of a scored surface in the tablet by the de-massing device.
26 . A composition produced by the system of claim 12 , said composition selected from the group consisting of a tablet, a pharmaceutical tablet, a tablette, and portions thereof.
27 . The method of claim 1 wherein said tablet material removal step (c) provides a non-bisecting score in said tablet.
28 . The method of claim 27 wherein said tablet with a non-bisecting score is broken along said score into asymmetric portions prior to collection step (d), which comprises collection of tablet portions.
29 . The method of claim 1 wherein said tablet material removal step (c) provides a score that is not parallel to a vertical plane of a tablet die.
30 . A composition produced by the method of claim 28 , said composition selected from the group consisting of a tablet, a pharmaceutical tablet, a tablette, and portions thereof.
31 . The system of claim 12 wherein said system further comprises an asymmetric tablet divider for dividing an asymmetrically scored tablet.
32 . The method of claim 1 wherein said method includes printing indicia on the tablet prior to the collection step.
33 . The system of claim 12 further comprising a printing device to print indicia on the tablet.