The latest installation one of Sessions of York's Aerosol Test Units is in a large pharmaceutical facility in Iran.
The advanced testing and self-adhesive labelling units are now in use in a wide range of pharmaceutical companies throughout the world, the company says.
Believed to be the only machines of their type, this advanced range is designed, developed and manufactured for automatic checkweighing, testing and labelling of medical aerosol containers. According to Sessions, the microprocessor-based units provide all the necessary elements of a sophisticated quality control system with a single pass of the product, due to its key features of accurate synchronisation and full control throughout all operations.
Digital timing and overall PLC control make machine setting simple and product handling extremely reliable with an output of 60-70 units per minute. Product size changeover requires no intervention by engineering staff in most cases.
Automatic valve testing checks that operation of the valve causes a measured dose of drug to be delivered within a specified length of time. To ensure product security, a bar code reader checks the codes printed on the container labels against a pre-set code in the computer's memory and rejects failures automatically.
A labelling unit mounted above the machine applies pre-printed self-adhesive labels around the aerosols at the labelling station. An optional hot foil print unit will overprint labels with date, batch number or code mark. Each container is then scanned by an ultraviolet sensor to ensure that it carries a label.
A full FDA IQ-OQ validation package is available with the Aerosol Test Unit, which can be supplied as a two-station machine providing weigh and spray test, or as a complete five-station machine with valve test, labeller, bar code reader, vision inspection system and outfeed collation/boot insertion station.
The machines operate on a fail-safe system and unless a product accept signal is received by the microprocessor, a container is ejected automatically into a holding receptacle. If there is consistent failure at any station, the programme can be set to switch the machine off after detecting a predetermined number of consecutive rejects.