Title:  Method and apparatus for manufacturing tablet capable of quick disintegration in oral cavity

United States Patent:  6,316,026

Assignee:  Sato Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (Tokyo, JP)

Filed:  January 8, 1999

Foreign Application Priority Data:  Sep 22, 1998[JP] (10-267789)

A method and an apparatus are adapted to manufacture a tablet capable of quick disintegration in the oral cavity that has a sufficiently large porosity and can be disintegrated in the oral cavity in a very short period of time, typically between 3 and 5 seconds. A tablet manufactured by means of such a method and such an apparatus also constitutes part of the present invention. The method for manufacturing a tablet capable of quickly disintegration in the oral cavity comprises steps of punching a tablet out of a pharmaceutical composition containing one or more than one medicinal agents and one or more than one water-soluble saccharides under pressure between 0.20 and 0.01 t/cm² and shaping the tablet by moisturizing and drying it, while transferring it without causing it to drop, said tablet having a porosity between 20 and 40%.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of the problems of the known methods for manufacturing a quickly soluble tablet and those of the tablets produced by such methods, it is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a method and an apparatus for manufacturing a tablet capable of quick disintegration in the oral cavity that has a sufficiently large porosity and can be disintegrated in the oral cavity in a very short period of time, typically between 3 and 5 seconds. Another object of the present invention is to provide a tablet manufactured by means of such a method and such an apparatus.

According to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a method for manufacturing a tablet capable of quick disintegration in the oral cavity, said method comprising steps of punching a tablet out of a pharmaceutical composition containing one or more than one medicinal agents and one or more than one water-soluble saccharides under pressure between 0.20 and 0.1 t/c m² and shaping the tablet by moisturizing and drying it, while transferring it without causing it to drop, said tablet having a porosity between 20 and 40%.

According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided an apparatus for manufacturing a tablet capable of quick disintegration in the oral cavity, said apparatus comprising a punching section for punching a tablet out of a medicinal composition containing one or more than one medicinal agents and one or more than one water-soluble saccharides under pressure between 0.20 and 0.20 t/c m², a transfer unit for transferring the punched out tablet on a continuous basis without causing it to drop, a moisturizing section for moisturizing the punched out tablet being transferred and a drying section arranged downstream relative to said moisturizing section for drying the punched out tablet being transferred, said manufactured tablet having a porosity between 20 and 40%.

According to a third aspect of the invention, there is provided a tablet capable of quick disintegration in the oral cavity and formed by punching it out of a pharmaceutical composition containing one or more than one medicinal agents and one or more than one water-soluble saccharides under pressure between 0.20 and 0.01 t/c m² and shaping it by moisturizing and drying it, while transferring it without causing it to drop, said tablet having a porosity between 25 and 40%.

In a mode of carrying out the invention, said pharmaceutical composition contains a binding agent to an extent not affecting the time required for the tablet to disintegrate in the oral cavity. In another mode of carrying out the invention, said pharmaceutical composition contains water-soluble saccharides by not lower than 30%. In still another mode of carrying out the invention, said medicinal agents are subjected to a coating process or a process of turning it into a matrix.

Claim 1 of 6 Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A method for manufacturing a tablet capable of quick disintegration in the oral cavity, said method comprising the steps of punching a tablet out of a pharmaceutical composition containing one or more than one medicinal agents and one or more than one water-soluble saccharides without using a water-soluble binding agent under pressure between 0.20 and 0.01 t/c m² and shaping the tablet by moisturizing and drying it, while transferring it without causing it to drop vertically downward, said tablet having a porosity between 20 and 40%.

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