US3159544A - Method of printing pharmaceutical forms and product thereof - Google Patents

Method of printing pharmaceutical forms and product thereof Download PDF

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Publication number
US3159544A
US3159544A US257792A US25779263A US3159544A US 3159544 A US3159544 A US 3159544A US 257792 A US257792 A US 257792A US 25779263 A US25779263 A US 25779263A US 3159544 A US3159544 A US 3159544A
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United States
Prior art keywords
coating
coated
tablets
pharmaceutical forms
forms
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Expired - Lifetime
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US257792A
Inventor
Edward M Heffernan
Allan M Raff
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Smith Kline and French Laboratories Ltd
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Smith Kline and French Laboratories Ltd
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Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Smith Kline and French Laboratories Ltd filed Critical Smith Kline and French Laboratories Ltd
Priority to US257792A priority Critical patent/US3159544A/en
Priority to GB5762/64A priority patent/GB1041905A/en
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of US3159544A publication Critical patent/US3159544A/en
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Expired - Lifetime legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
    • A61J—CONTAINERS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR MEDICAL OR PHARMACEUTICAL PURPOSES; DEVICES OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR BRINGING PHARMACEUTICAL PRODUCTS INTO PARTICULAR PHYSICAL OR ADMINISTERING FORMS; DEVICES FOR ADMINISTERING FOOD OR MEDICINES ORALLY; BABY COMFORTERS; DEVICES FOR RECEIVING SPITTLE
    • A61J3/00—Devices or methods specially adapted for bringing pharmaceutical products into particular physical or administering forms
    • A61J3/007—Marking tablets or the like
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
    • B41M—PRINTING, DUPLICATING, MARKING, OR COPYING PROCESSES; COLOUR PRINTING
    • B41M1/00—Inking and printing with a printer's forme
    • B41M1/26—Printing on other surfaces than ordinary paper

Definitions

  • This invention relates to a novel method of printing on pharmaceutical forms such as tablets, pills and the like and the product of this method. More particularly, this invention provides a versatile, simplified method of printing on pharmaceutical forms which greatly reduces the time previously required.
  • the technique of the prior art involved in the ink monogramming of tablets has been to apply a preprintiug coat of ink receptive material, preferably shellac, over the coated tablets and printing the desired ink indicia
  • a preprintiug coat of ink receptive material preferably shellac
  • the present method of applying the shellac to the pharmaceutical forms is very time consuming.
  • the coated tablets, in particular sugar coated tablets, must be thoroughly dried before the application of the shellac coat in order to prevent frosting of the shellac by the presence of moisture.
  • the present method con sists of applying the desired tablet coating, removing the tablets from the coating pan after the final color coats have been applied and then drying the tablets overnight.
  • the tablets after being completely dried are then placed in a special shellacking pan and one or more coats of wax free shellac are applied out of a suitable organic solvent, usually isopropyl alcohol. Since this shellac is incompatible with water it is absolutely necessary that the tablets have been thoroughly dried before the application of the shellac. The time required to assure complete drying is approximately 24 hours.
  • the shellac coated tablets are then removed from the coating pan, monogrammed and polished.
  • the novel method of printing tablets and the tablet in accordance with this invention eliminates the above time consuming procedure and makes it possible to print tablets rapidly and inexpensively.
  • the time required to print the tablets has been'reduced from days to a matter of hours.
  • the novel process of printing tablets as disclosed by the applicants eliminates the necessity of tablets being dried overnight before the application of the shellac.
  • Another advantage of this novel invention is that less handling of the tablets is required since they do not have to be racked and repanned a second time.
  • a further advantage of this invention is that it permits for a preprinting coating of the pharmaceutical forms in the same pan in which they are sugar coated following the normal pan drying cycle thus eliminating the necessity of special shellacking pans.
  • the method and tablet of this invention is therefore, markedly less expensive than those disclosed in the prior art because of the great reduction in operating time and the elimination of special shellac coating pans discussed above.
  • the method of printing the solid pharmaceutical forms such as compressed tablets, pills, troches and the like in accordance with this invention comprises preparing a preprinting coating solution of a solid cellulose derivative in an organic solvent in which the derivative is sufficiently soluble.
  • the cellulose coating solution is then applied directly to the pharmaceutical forms immediately after they have been given their standard coating and printed and polished. This method provides for a con ice tinuous operation in the coating pan starting with the coating of the medicinal core to the final cellulose coatmg.
  • the cellulose coating solution is prepared by dissolving a solid cellulose derivative in an organic solvent in a concentration of from about 1% to about 10%, preferably from about 2% to about 5%.
  • the solid cellulose derivative can be any nontoxic, water insoluble, cellulose such as, for example, ethyl cellulose, propyl cellulose, cellulose acetate or cellulose acetate butyrate. The process of this invention is carried out most advantageously by the use of ethyl cellulose.
  • the organic solvent is any nontoxic pharmaceutically acceptable volatile solvent in which the cellulose derivative is soluble.
  • exemplary of such solvents would be chloroform, carbon tetrachloride, petroleum ether, benzene, trichloroethylene, ethylene dichloride, alcohols, such as, methyl, ethyl and isopropyl or mixtures of the above solvents.
  • the advantageous and preferred preprinting coating solution in accordance with this invention will contain from about 2% to about 5% of ethyl cellulose in chloro form.
  • the coating will be from about 0.01% to about 0.1%, preferably from about 0.01% to about 0.05% of the total tablet Weight.
  • the printing and polishing of tablets referred to above are very well known conventional steps in the tableting art.
  • the printing can be accomplished simply by biasing the tablets against a printing mechanism such as a stamp or roller having the desired monagram and saturated with any of the well known edible inks.
  • Tablet printing machines are available to perform a continuous operation of printing and conveying the tablets, i.e., mass production.
  • the polishing operation is well known to the art and the materials used may be, for example, beeswax, carnauba was, ozokerite or ceresin. Preferably a combination of beeswax and carnauba wax in various proportions is used.
  • coated tablets referred to in this invention can have any coating well known to the art, such as for example, sugar coating, enteric coating, film coating or the many different forms of sustained release coatings.
  • the solid pharmaceutical forms which are printed using this novel procedure comprises coated tablets, pills,
  • the tablet can be'finished with a polishing coat of wax.
  • Example Ingredients I Amounts, gm. Ethyl cellulose, N.F., 15 cps. 3.0 Chloroform 97.0
  • a preprinting coating solution is prepared by dissolving the ethyl cellulose in the chloroform. Tablet cores containing chlorpromazine and filler are placed in a rotating coating pan and are sugar coated and dried. While continuing to rotate the coating pan the ethyl cellulose solution coated tablets in the rotating pan and allowed to dry. The tablets are then removed from the coating pan and ink monogrammed. then applied to the printed tablets. 5
  • a method of preparing printed pharmaceutical forms which comprises:
  • An link monogrammed pharmaceutical form comprising a coated medicinal core, an ethyl cellulose preprinting coat surrounding said coated core and ink monogramming on a portion of said preprinting coating.

Description

, thereon.
United States Pat ent METHOD OF PRINTING PHARMACEUTICAL FORMS AND PRODUCT THEREOF Edward M. Heifer-nan, Levittown, N.J., and Allan M. Rad, Elkins Park, Pa, assignors to Smith Kline & French Laboratories, Philadelphia, Pa, a. corporation of Pennsylvania No Drawing. Filed Feb. 11, 1963, Ser. No. 257,792
' (Ilaims. (Cl. 16'782) This invention relates to a novel method of printing on pharmaceutical forms such as tablets, pills and the like and the product of this method. More particularly, this invention provides a versatile, simplified method of printing on pharmaceutical forms which greatly reduces the time previously required.
The technique of the prior art involved in the ink monogramming of tablets has been to apply a preprintiug coat of ink receptive material, preferably shellac, over the coated tablets and printing the desired ink indicia The present method of applying the shellac to the pharmaceutical forms is very time consuming. The coated tablets, in particular sugar coated tablets, must be thoroughly dried before the application of the shellac coat in order to prevent frosting of the shellac by the presence of moisture. The present method con sists of applying the desired tablet coating, removing the tablets from the coating pan after the final color coats have been applied and then drying the tablets overnight. The tablets after being completely dried are then placed in a special shellacking pan and one or more coats of wax free shellac are applied out of a suitable organic solvent, usually isopropyl alcohol. Since this shellac is incompatible with water it is absolutely necessary that the tablets have been thoroughly dried before the application of the shellac. The time required to assure complete drying is approximately 24 hours. The shellac coated tablets are then removed from the coating pan, monogrammed and polished.
The novel method of printing tablets and the tablet in accordance with this invention eliminates the above time consuming procedure and makes it possible to print tablets rapidly and inexpensively. The time required to print the tablets has been'reduced from days to a matter of hours. The novel process of printing tablets as disclosed by the applicants eliminates the necessity of tablets being dried overnight before the application of the shellac. Another advantage of this novel invention is that less handling of the tablets is required since they do not have to be racked and repanned a second time. A further advantage of this invention is that it permits for a preprinting coating of the pharmaceutical forms in the same pan in which they are sugar coated following the normal pan drying cycle thus eliminating the necessity of special shellacking pans. The method and tablet of this invention, is therefore, markedly less expensive than those disclosed in the prior art because of the great reduction in operating time and the elimination of special shellac coating pans discussed above.
The method of printing the solid pharmaceutical forms such as compressed tablets, pills, troches and the like in accordance with this invention comprises preparing a preprinting coating solution of a solid cellulose derivative in an organic solvent in which the derivative is sufficiently soluble. The cellulose coating solution is then applied directly to the pharmaceutical forms immediately after they have been given their standard coating and printed and polished. This method provides for a con ice tinuous operation in the coating pan starting with the coating of the medicinal core to the final cellulose coatmg.
The cellulose coating solution is prepared by dissolving a solid cellulose derivative in an organic solvent in a concentration of from about 1% to about 10%, preferably from about 2% to about 5%. The solid cellulose derivative can be any nontoxic, water insoluble, cellulose such as, for example, ethyl cellulose, propyl cellulose, cellulose acetate or cellulose acetate butyrate. The process of this invention is carried out most advantageously by the use of ethyl cellulose.
In accordance with this invention the organic solvent is any nontoxic pharmaceutically acceptable volatile solvent in which the cellulose derivative is soluble. Exemplary of such solvents would be chloroform, carbon tetrachloride, petroleum ether, benzene, trichloroethylene, ethylene dichloride, alcohols, such as, methyl, ethyl and isopropyl or mixtures of the above solvents.
The advantageous and preferred preprinting coating solution in accordance with this invention will contain from about 2% to about 5% of ethyl cellulose in chloro form. The coating will be from about 0.01% to about 0.1%, preferably from about 0.01% to about 0.05% of the total tablet Weight.
The printing and polishing of tablets referred to above are very well known conventional steps in the tableting art. For example, the printing can be accomplished simply by biasing the tablets against a printing mechanism such as a stamp or roller having the desired monagram and saturated with any of the well known edible inks. Tablet printing machines are available to perform a continuous operation of printing and conveying the tablets, i.e., mass production.
The polishing operation is well known to the art and the materials used may be, for example, beeswax, carnauba was, ozokerite or ceresin. Preferably a combination of beeswax and carnauba wax in various proportions is used.
The coated tablets referred to in this invention can have any coating well known to the art, such as for example, sugar coating, enteric coating, film coating or the many different forms of sustained release coatings.
The solid pharmaceutical forms which are printed using this novel procedure comprises coated tablets, pills,
' troches and the like substantially and completely coated with a cellulosic material and having an ink identifying monogram marked upon a portion of the cellulose coating. If desired, the tablet can be'finished with a polishing coat of wax.
While this invention applies mainly to the pharmaceutical industry it is to be understood that this method of printing can be applied to any industry which desires to ink monogram their'edible products.
It will also be apparent to those skilled in the pharmaceutical art that methods of coating equivalent to those described hereinbefore could be used, such as, for ex-.
ample, using air suspension, fluid bed or press coating methods.
The following example is not limiting but rather illustr-ative of the method of this invention.
Example Ingredients: I Amounts, gm. Ethyl cellulose, N.F., 15 cps. 3.0 Chloroform 97.0
A preprinting coating solution is prepared by dissolving the ethyl cellulose in the chloroform. Tablet cores containing chlorpromazine and filler are placed in a rotating coating pan and are sugar coated and dried. While continuing to rotate the coating pan the ethyl cellulose solution coated tablets in the rotating pan and allowed to dry. The tablets are then removed from the coating pan and ink monogrammed. then applied to the printed tablets. 5
i) is then applied to the sugar A polish coating of beeswax is What is claimed is: 1. A method of preparing printed pharmaceutical forms which comprises:
(a) Applying a standard coating composition to pharmaceutical forms rotating in a coating pan to give coated forms,
(b) Drying said coated forms,
(0) Covering said coated forms rotating in a coating pan With a cellulosic preprinting coating solution to give cellulose coated pharmaceutical forms, and
(d) Ink printing said cellulose coated pharmaceutical forms.
2. The method of claim 1 characterized in that the standard coating composition is a sugar coating.
3. The method of claim 1 characterized in that the preprinting cellulosic coating solution comprises ethyl cellulose.
4. The method of claim 1 further characterized in that the ink printed pharmaceutical forms are finished with a polishing coat of wax.
5. An link monogrammed pharmaceutical form comprising a coated medicinal core, an ethyl cellulose preprinting coat surrounding said coated core and ink monogramming on a portion of said preprinting coating.
References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,853,420 Lowey Sept. 23, 1958 3,080,294 Shepard Mar. 5, 1963 3,116,205 Heilig et al Dec. 31, 1963

Claims (1)

1. A METHOD OF PREPARING PRINTED PHARMACEUTICAL FORMS WHICH COMPRISES: (A) APPLYING A STANDARD COATING COMPOSITION TO PHARMACEUTICAL FORMS ROTATING IN A COATING PAN TO GIVE COATED FORMS, (B) DRYING SAID COATED FORMS, (C) COVERING SAID COATED ROTATING IN A COATING PAN WITH A CELLULOSIC PREPRINTING COATING SOLUTION TO GIVE CELLULOSE COATED PHARMACETUICAL FORMS, AND (D) INK PRINTING SAID CELLULOSE COATED PHARMACEUTICAL FORMS.
US257792A 1963-02-11 1963-02-11 Method of printing pharmaceutical forms and product thereof Expired - Lifetime US3159544A (en)

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US257792A US3159544A (en) 1963-02-11 1963-02-11 Method of printing pharmaceutical forms and product thereof
GB5762/64A GB1041905A (en) 1963-02-11 1964-02-11 Improvements in or relating to printing on discrete solid edible products

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Cited By (7)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3524756A (en) * 1967-05-29 1970-08-18 Colorcon Process of coating tablets with alternate tacky and non-tacky layers
US3533804A (en) * 1968-02-02 1970-10-13 Miles Lab Tablet branding process and tablet
US4495034A (en) * 1980-06-05 1985-01-22 Frank Lucas Waste effluent treatment and solvent recovery system
US4661367A (en) * 1982-06-10 1987-04-28 Imperial Chemical Industries Plc Process for the manufacture of colored intagliated articles
US5002775A (en) * 1982-03-08 1991-03-26 Sumitomo Chemical Company, Limited Tablets having clear impressed marks and method for making same
US5683718A (en) * 1995-04-04 1997-11-04 Time-Cap Labs, Inc. Enteric coated tablet with raised identification character and method of manufacture
US20060110551A1 (en) * 2002-08-05 2006-05-25 Mars, Incorporated Ink-jet printing on surface modified edibles and products made

Families Citing this family (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
KR100721088B1 (en) * 2000-04-26 2007-05-23 신에쓰 가가꾸 고교 가부시끼가이샤 Solid Formulation Coated by Film Coating Layer And Film Coating Agent

Citations (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US2853420A (en) * 1956-01-25 1958-09-23 Lowey Hans Ethyl cellulose coatings for shaped medicinal preparations
US3080294A (en) * 1960-10-20 1963-03-05 Key Pharma Sustained release type of pharmaceutical vehicles
US3116205A (en) * 1959-02-27 1963-12-31 Olin Mathieson Veneer coated tablets

Patent Citations (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US2853420A (en) * 1956-01-25 1958-09-23 Lowey Hans Ethyl cellulose coatings for shaped medicinal preparations
US3116205A (en) * 1959-02-27 1963-12-31 Olin Mathieson Veneer coated tablets
US3080294A (en) * 1960-10-20 1963-03-05 Key Pharma Sustained release type of pharmaceutical vehicles

Cited By (8)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3524756A (en) * 1967-05-29 1970-08-18 Colorcon Process of coating tablets with alternate tacky and non-tacky layers
US3533804A (en) * 1968-02-02 1970-10-13 Miles Lab Tablet branding process and tablet
US4495034A (en) * 1980-06-05 1985-01-22 Frank Lucas Waste effluent treatment and solvent recovery system
US5002775A (en) * 1982-03-08 1991-03-26 Sumitomo Chemical Company, Limited Tablets having clear impressed marks and method for making same
US4661367A (en) * 1982-06-10 1987-04-28 Imperial Chemical Industries Plc Process for the manufacture of colored intagliated articles
US5683718A (en) * 1995-04-04 1997-11-04 Time-Cap Labs, Inc. Enteric coated tablet with raised identification character and method of manufacture
US20060110551A1 (en) * 2002-08-05 2006-05-25 Mars, Incorporated Ink-jet printing on surface modified edibles and products made
US7500744B2 (en) 2002-08-05 2009-03-10 Mars, Incorprated Ink-jet printing on surface modified edibles and products made

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GB1041905A (en) 1966-09-07

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