Claims:WE CLAIM
1. A system for feeding/dispensing plurality of products to one or more capsules, the system comprising:
a rotating feeding disc having at-least one concentric region with plurality of apertures arranged in a spaced-apart relationship along the concentric region, each aperture configured/capable of receiving at-least one product;
a support disc having a planar surface and a transfer region formed thereon, the support disc disposed below the rotating feeding disc enables the aperture of the rotating feeding disc to retain the product, and the transfer region allows the product from each aperture aligned with the transfer region to pass through; and
a drive configured to rotate the rotating feeding disc such that one or more apertures of the rotating feeding disc are aligned with the transfer region of the support disc depending upon desired number of product to be dispensed per capsule.
2. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the rotating feeding disc comprises of plurality of concentric regions, each concentric region having plurality of apertures arranged in a spaced-apart relationship along the concentric region, each concentric region corresponds to the number of capsules to be filled.
3. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the transfer region of the support disc has one or more openings depending upon the number of concentric regions of the rotating feeding disc.
4. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein a transfer chute is provided below the transfer region of the support disc to allow one or more products to transfer to each capsule.
5. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the drive is configured to move the rotating feeding disc continuously or in a sequential manner.
6. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein each aperture is spaced apart from each other in the range of 1 to 4 degrees around the circumference of the concentric region.

, Description:FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[001] The invention relates to a system for feeding plurality of products to one or more capsules, more particularly to a system having a disc configured to feed plurality of products into one or more capsules.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[002] Controlled drug delivery is one which delivers the drug at a predetermined rate locally or systemically, for a specified period of time. Capsules containing pharmaceutical formulations in the form of products such as micro-tablets, mini tablets, tablets, caplets, soft gels, pellets, spherical balls and filled capsules are known and generally used for controlled drug delivery. Manufacturing process of such capsules involves one of the most critical step of filling the capsules with predetermined number of products.
[003] Generally products are fed to a rotatable feeding disc mounted on a machine and transferred into a capsule through holes provided on the feeding disc. The feeding disc is provided with predefined number of holes in selective regions of the disc and are arranged in a predetermined number of rows and columns. Number of holes appearing in one particular row of the selective region corresponds to the number of products required to be filled in one capsule and number of holes appearing in one particular column of the selective region corresponds to the number of capsules required to be filled at a given point of time. For the purpose of filling the capsules, holes on the feeding disk is first filled with products. Thereafter, feeding disk is rotated to dispense one product at a time in the capsule and further rotated to dispense all products from a given row of the selective region thereby filling the capsule with pre-determined number of products.
[004] While the configuration of feeding disc known in the art allows filling of a capsule with pre-determined number of products; however if the number of products required to be filled in a capsule changes the feeding disc will have to be modified accordingly. Consequently, multiple feeding discs with different capacity are required and each time there is a specific requirement for filling a given capsule with desired dosage of products the disc needs to be replaced on the machine to meet such requirement. Need of multiple feeding discs does not only incur huge additional cost and time but also makes the process cumbersome.
[005] In view of the above, there is a need to address at-least the aforementioned problem.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[006] Accordingly, the present invention in one aspect provides a system for feeding/dispensing plurality of products to one or more capsules, the system comprising a rotating feeding disc having at-least one concentric region with plurality of apertures arranged in a spaced-apart relationship along the concentric region, each aperture configured/capable of receiving at-least one product; a support disc having a planar surface and a transfer region formed thereon, the support disc disposed below the rotating feeding disc enables the aperture of the rotating feeding disc to retain the product, and the transfer region allows the product from each aperture aligned with the transfer region to pass through; and a drive configured to rotate the rotating feeding disc such that one or more apertures of the rotating feeding disc are aligned with the transfer region of the support disc depending upon desired number of product to be dispensed per capsule.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[007] Reference will be made to embodiments of the invention, examples of which may be illustrated in accompanying figures. These figures are intended to be illustrative, not limiting. Although the invention is generally described in context of these embodiments, it should be understood that it is not intended to limit the scope of the invention to these particular embodiments.
Figure 1 shows a cross-sectional view of a system for feeding/dispensing plurality of products in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.
Figure 2 shows a rotating feeding disc in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.
Figure 3 shows a rotating feeding disc in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.
Figure 4 shows a support disc in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[008] The present invention is directed towards metering or dispensing multiple products to one or more capsules, wherein for each capsule desired number of products can be filled using the same system.
[009] Figure 1 shows a cross-sectional view of a system 100 for feeding/dispensing plurality of products 102 into one or more capsules. The products can be selected from micro-tablets mini tablets, tablets, caplets, soft gels, pellets, spherical balls, filled capsules and the like. The system comprises a container 110, a rotating feeding disc 120, a support disc 130, and a transfer chute 140. As shown, the support disc is provided below the rotating feeding disc, and the transfer chute extends from below the support disc towards a capsule filling station 150. The rotating feeding disc is connected with a ring which is movable along with the rotating feeding disc. The ring extends from periphery/circumference of the rotating feeding disc defining a wall around the rotating feeding disc thereby forming a container like structure. The products thus loaded on the rotating feeding disc are retained by the ring/wall. The products are fed/loaded on the rotating feeding disc from a hopper provided/disposed above the rotating feeding disc, wherein plurality of products are accumulated within the container.
[010] Figure 2 shows a rotating feeding disc 120 in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. As shown, the rotating feeding disc has one concentric region R1 with plurality of apertures 122 arranged in a spaced-apart relationship along the concentric region, each aperture configured/capable of receiving at-least one product. Each aperture is spaced apart from each other in the range of 1 to 4 degrees around the circumference of the concentric region. Further, the dimension of each aperture is slightly greater than the dimension of the product such that the product can easily be retained and/or allowed to pass through the aperture. Also, the shape of each aperture corresponds with the shape of the product, and can be selected from any of a circular shape, oblong shape, rectangular shape or any other shape. The product retained and/or transferred from the aperture is eventually fed to a capsule. In an embodiment, number of concentric regions corresponds to the number of capsules/receptacles to be filled, and each aperture of the concentric region fills each capsule with desired number of products. Thus, with the rotating feeding disc shown in figure 2, one capsule can be filled with desired number of products. Figure 3 shows a rotating feeding disc 120 comprising plurality of concentric regions R1, R2…, Rn. Each concentric region has plurality of apertures, each aperture capable of receiving at-least one product. Each aperture is spaced apart from each other in the range of 1 to 4 degrees around the circumference of the concentric region. With the rotating feeding disc shown in figure 3, multiple capsules can be filled with desired number of products.
[011] As shown in figure 1, the rotating feeding disc is mounted/supported on an incline. In this regard, the rotating feeding disc is mounted around its center, whereby the rotating feeding disc is inclined in relation to the vertical axis by an angle ? forming a sloped surface. In an embodiment, angle ? is approximately 20 to 40 degrees. The products thus received or filled by the rotating feeding disc accumulate on one side of the rotating feeding disc. In this regard, the rotating feeding disc is virtually divided into a storage region and a dispensing region. The storage region is towards the tilted side of the rotating feeding disc where the products accumulate, and the dispensing region is towards the elevated side of the rotating feeding disc. Further, the system comprises oscillating flaps for spreading the products gently and evenly on the rotating feeding disc such that the products are received by the apertures. As the disc rotates the product is continuously filled into the apertures.
[012] Figure 4 shows a support disc in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. As shown, the support disc has a planar surface 132 and a transfer region 134 formed thereon. The support disc disposed below the rotating feeding disc enables the aperture of the rotating feeding disc to retain the product, and the transfer region allows the product from each aperture aligned with the transfer region to pass through. The transfer region has an opening, dimension of which allows the product from the aperture to pass through. In this regard, the transfer region may have one or more openings depending upon the number of concentric regions of the rotating feeding disc.
[013] In an embodiment of the invention, the rotating feeding disc is rotated by a drive. The drive can be selected from a servo motor or a stepper motor or a geared motor or any drive. In an embodiment, the drive is configured to rotate the rotating feeding disc continuously or in a sequential manner. As the rotating feeding disc is rotated, the apertures travel towards the storage region, and one product is disposed in each aperture. With further rotation of the rotating feeding disc, the aperture filled with the product travels out of the storage region. If any additional product has been collected by any of the apertures, then with further rotation of the metering disc, such additional product roll or slide back into the storage region by gravity of the slope acting on them. As the rotating feeding disc rotates and the aperture come into line with or align with the transfer region of the support disc, products from the aligned apertures pass through to the transfer chute and to the capsule filling station, where the products are fed to capsule bottom parts. The drive can thus be configured to rotate the rotating feeding disc and align one or more apertures with the transfer region depending upon desired number of products to be dispensed per capsule. For example, if three products are to be dispensed, three apertures are aligned in a sequential manner with the transfer region of the support disc. In this regard, as can be seen in the figures, the apertures are continuous, and thus depending upon number of products to be dispensed the drive is configured to align one or more apertures with the transfer region. Accordingly, by controlling movement of the feeding disc to align multiple apertures in succession/sequential manner multiple products can be transferred to the transfer chute and dispensed to each capsule. Thus, using the same feeding disc, number of products to be dispensed can be modified as per requirement by configuring the drive to rotate and align a particular number of apertures with the transfer region.
[014] The transfer chute as shown in figure 1 is provided below the support disc adjacent to the transfer region, and extends towards the capsule filling station. The transfer chute includes one or more pathways depending upon number of concentric regions and/or number of capsules to be filled. The capsule filling station is thus provided underneath the transfer chute and receives the products. Accordingly, the capsule filling station comprises receptacles for receiving the products, wherein the number of receptacles is proportional to the concentric regions. In a preferred arrangement, receptacles accommodate capsule bottom parts, and the products are received by the capsule bottom/base parts. Thereafter, the capsule bottom parts are fitted with capsule top parts to form the capsule.
[015] Further, the system comprises an inspection system for inspecting/verifying number of products filled in the capsule. The inspection system is adapted to the capsule filling station. The inspection system includes at-least one vision camera and a check-weigher. The vision camera is provided on the transfer chute above the capsule filling station for checking integrity of fill before filling and after filling in real time. If vision cameras are used to check in real time, then the capsules that do not contain the required quantity of products are subsequently rejected and the good capsules move forward to the next process. The check-weigher is provided after the capsule filling station for checking the integrity of fill post filling. The check-weigher has a mechanism containing load cells, wherein the capsules filled with products are weighed to ensure that correct quantity of products have been received by the capsule.
[016] Advantageously, the present invention provides a system which is configurable to feed/dispense desired number of products to one or more capsules. The present invention obviates the requirement of modifying or changing parts such as feeding disc depending on number of products to be dispensed/filled in one or more capsules.
[017] While the present invention has been described with respect to certain embodiments, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modification may be made without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the following claims.