Technology caps pharma bottling process
The TorqSense SGR530/540, measures torque using a full four-element strain gauge bridge. With this, four separate strain gauges are fixed to the drive shaft of the plant or machinery being monitored. The gauges are aligned so that each measures shaft deflection in a different direction.
Sensor Technology has specialised in real-time torque measurement for over 40 years, pioneering the use of wireless solutions based on radio frequency pick-ups that do away with the need for unreliable slip rings.
Bottle capping is nearly always performed at a very high speed to meet production targets. A major advantage of TorqSense is that it does not need to physically contact either the bottle caps or shaft of the torque head it is monitoring, instead using a radio frequency link. This means initial set-up and change over to new product runs are fast and efficient, while operational reliability is not dependent on delicate slip rings.
Strict international rules apply to the manufacture and packaging of pharmaceutical products., Regulation USP 671 provides a guide to the torque range for screw-type containers with varying closure diameters. By ensuring that bottle caps are successfully applied to the bottles within the required torque tolerances, the integrity of the product can be maintained.
“All you have to do is set up a TorqSense transducer in the capping machine and turn it on,” explained Mark Ingham of Sensor Technology. “Our new SGR TorqSense units are getting a realistic long-term workout on the capping machines, operating for long hours at high speed, where they are required to be 100% reliable and consistently accurate.”
Fast and accurate torque measurement is becoming more and more important as all sectors of manufacturing automate their physical processes while also needing to improve the recording of production performance data.
