Syringe Pack Automation System

Assystem were commissioned by a major pharmaceutical manufacturer to design and build a system to automatically assemble a stopper to an oral syringe.

The client set the following requirements for the completed assembly system:

• Bulk feeding of the syringes and stoppers.
• To deposit the system onto the infeed conveyor of the existing cartoning machine.
• To place a syringe/stopper assembly adjacent to each bottle being fed into the cartoning machine.
• A completely free standing piece of equipment which could be fully tested and developed elsewhere before being moved into position next the cartoning machine.
• Ability to run at a speed of up to 120 units per minute.

Prior to detail design of the equipment, Assystem used virtual modelling to investigate the behaviour of the critical parts of the operation, in this case, the indexing drum and the dispensing conveyor system.

Extensive use of 3D GRASP simulation software confirmed the cycle times, solved any synchronisation problems and gave the client a high degree of confidence in Assystem' proposed solution.

Since the animated sequence ran in real time, the client was able to see the exact sequence of events. It proved how the machine design was capable of running at the maximum speed and could be introduced to the existing packing line.

A small (2Mb) movie shows the simulation and completed machine. View the movie.
The final assembly system, designed and built by Assystem, consists of:

• Bulk Hoppers - Two bulk hoppers to feed the stoppers and syringes (with capacity of approximately 1 hour's worth of production supply). The operator loads the components into the hoppers as required during production.
• Bowl feeders - Two bowl feeders to de-scramble the syringe and stoppers and position in the correct orientation.
• Linear Tracks and Rotary Assembly Unit - The two components are fed along linear tracks into a rotary assembly unit - as the unit rotates, the syringe and stopper come together to form the completed assembly.
• Cam/servo driven systems
• Proprietary electromechanical indexing table
• PLC system

The completed assembly system, shown left, is triggered when a bottle is present within the existing carton machine conveyor. This signals a servo-drive to index the syringe assembly conveyor and releases a syringe/ stopper assembly adjacent to the moving bottle. Other features of the assembly system include:

• Safety guarding around drum.
• Acoustics guarding around the main syringe - the whole system runs below the specified noise level of 76 dB.
• Stainless steel and aluminium parts, all complying with pharmaceutical standards.

Assystem were able to use their expertise to design a 'totally bespoke system' meeting all customer requirements. The turnaround for the design and build of the machine (from a blank sheet to signing off at the customer site) was a total of 20 weeks. The final syringe pack machine was introduced with minimum modification to the existing carton line and with the capability of achieving speeds above the maximum of 120 units per minute.

• Removal of ergonomic issues such as repetitive strain injuries associated with hand packing.
• Reduction of unit cost of syringes (now supplied in bulk and no longer require third party packing).
• Removal of cost of putting additional staff on to hand pack the increased volume.

"The feedback from staff using the machine has also been very positive, so all in all the automated process is an all round winner." (Quote from the customers Project Engineer)