A leader in manufacturing equipment for the pharmaceutical and biotech industries, Shanghai-based Tofflon Science and Technology Co. serves nearly 2000 pharmaceutical companies in 40 countries. At the heart of the Tofflon offering is the autoloading and barrier systems and vial and ampoule filling lines. One issue consistently raised by customers involves medicinal bottles that generate static, through friction, while travelling along the conveyor line. Aside from well-known issues around product cleanliness, these static charges can also impact sensitive electronic weighing systems where very precise measurements are needed, as well as threatening the safety of operators. Tofflon has addressed these issues by installing Meech’s 976 Mini and 915 antistatic bar.
“The demand for high quality medicine is higher than ever and continues to increase,” says a spokesperson at Tofflon. “The equipment that aids in the production of these medicines must also be of a high standard and capable of keeping up with demands. At Tofflon, we have always taken pride in the quality of our products produced for the market and we look to aid our customers further with additional solutions that they require.”
With stringent regulations in place in the pharmaceutical industry, great importance is placed on the accuracy of any measurements, especially for newly emerging drugs that require precise weighing. Bottle filling lines are optimised to ensure consistent production processes and correct dosages for customers, but the presence of static can throw all of this into doubt.
Bottles can generate static through friction and contact with other materials while moving down the filling line. The final reading on the high-precision weighing system at the end of the line can be affected by this, as the static charge can interfere with the electronics. Meech’s antistatic solutions in the shape of the 976 Mini and 915 antistatic bar have countered this problem – compact enough to be positioned below part of the bottle running line, the 976 mini provides ionisation through alternating positive and negative emitter pins mounted in a PTFE extrusion. These pins are resistively coupled to the voltage pulsed DC source, which ensures the emitters are shockless to the touch and won’t harm operators.
Meech’s 915 antistatic bar, positioned above the bottle running line, provides fast and powerful static control for high speed applications such as ones encountered on Tofflon’s barrier systems and filling lines. With effective ionisation up to distances of 150mm, the 915 provides very fast decay times, is shockless to the touch and easily maintained.
“Tofflon has been immensely satisfied with Meech’s 976 Mini solution and the 915 antistatic bar,” continues the spokesperson. “Our customers can have full confidence that bottles will be static free at the end of the production process, meaning final weight measurements are 100% accurate and operators are kept safe from shocks.”
The spokesperson concludes: “Meech are our trusted partner – their products and expertise has and continues to prove invaluable to Tofflon’s product offering and its customers.”
Richard Kang, General Manager at Meech Static Eliminators (Shanghai) Co. ltd says: “Tofflon produce some vitally important equipment for an equally crucial industry. Its machines help with the delivery of healthcare products to millions of people, so it is vital that any products its customers produce can put full faith in the equipment delivering a reliable service.
“With Meech’s 976 Mini and 915, Tofflon is able to remove any static problems that may arise, ensuring production flows seamlessly and costly life-changing medicines are not incorrectly disposed of due to incorrect weight readings.”