Tablet hardness tester
AssigneeThe Upjohn Company
InventorsDaniel J. Smith, Jessie F. Glasscock, Jr., Richard P. Poska, Carl L. Kuder
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An improved tablet hardness tester includes a ram and anvil for fracturing a tablet therebetween, a support for holding a tablet in position for fracturing between the ram and anvil, a strain gauge for measuring the force exerted by the ram in fracturing the tablet, and an indicator for indicating the measured force. The support according to the invention is a plurality of spaced-apart elongated member, preferably a pair of parallel wires. A tablet is placed on these wires and then crushed by the ram and anvil so that the pieces of the broken tablet fall beneath the wires into a container, thus eliminating the need for cleaning the support prior to a subsequent tablet hardness measurement.
Claims22
In an apparatus for measuring tablet hardness, including ram and anvil means for fracturing a tablet therebetween;
- means for supporting a tablet in position for fracturing between said ram and anvil means, means for measuring the force exerted by said ram which is sufficient to fracture said tablet, and means for indicating the force measured by said measuring means, the improvement which comprises:
- said supporting means comprises a plurality of horizontal, spaced-apart, elongated support members for supporting the underside of a tablet, said members having a diameter small enough so that pieces of said tablet, after said tablet has been fractured by said ram and anvil means, can fall past and below said support members.
In an apparatus for measuring tablet hardness, including ram and anvil means for fracturing a tablet therebetween, means for supporting a tablet in position for fracturing between said ram and anvil means, means for measuring the force exerted by said ram which is sufficient to fracture said tablet, and means for indicating the force measured by said measuring means, the improvement which comprises:
- means for supporting a vertical stack of tablets and for dispensing a lowermost tablet of the stack onto said support means, said dispensing means comprising a tablet dispenser which contains said stack of tablets therein, means for reciprocating said tablet dispenser upwardly and downwardly between an uppermost position at which said dispenser is clear of the path of movement of said ram and a lowermost position at which said dispenser is in position to deliver the lowermost tablet onto said support means, a plurality of resilient retaining arms mounted on said tablet dispenser, said arms engaging the lowermost tablet in said stack to thereby retain said stack within said dispenser, means for deforming said resilient arms and thereby release said lowermost tablet from said stack so that said lowermost tablet rests on said support means, and means for retaining the remainder of said stack of tablets within said dispenser as said dispenser moves upwardly after having deposited said lowermost tablet onto said support means by bringing said arms into resilient engagement with the next tablet above said lowermost table in said stack.
In an apparatus for measuring hardness, including ram and anvil means for fracturing an object therebetween;
- means for supporting the object in position for fracturing between said ram and anvil means, means for measuring the force exerted by said ram which is sufficient to fracture the object, and means for indicating the force measured by said measuring means, comprising the improvement wherein:
- said supporting means comprises a plurality of horizontal, spaced-apart, elongated support members for supporting the underside of the object, said members having a diameter small enough so that pieces of the object, after the object has been fractured by said ram and anvil means, can fall past and below said support members.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.