Manual (hand-operated plate)
- What the operator does
- Loads the capsules on a plate, spreads the powder over the open bodies and closes them with a lever
- Who it suits
- Development work and small batches. The fill weight depends on the operator
Automatic capsule filling machine for pharmaceutical plants
Fabtech supplies capsule filling machines for pharmaceutical plants, with a capacity from 25,000 to 150,000 capsules an hour. The machines fill hard capsules with powders, pellets, granules, tablets and combinations of these. We supply automatic, semi-automatic and manual machines.
We reply within 24 hours.
A hard capsule is a shell in two parts, a body and a cap, and it holds one dose of medicine. Pellets are small round beads.
Granules are grains of powder that flow well. We specify each machine for your product, your capsule size and the number of capsules you need each hour.
We also supply the equipment that prepares the powder, and we build the room the machine runs in. If your powder is harmful to breathe, we supply the enclosure around the machine too.
On this page
Key fact Detail
- Capacity of the machines we supply
- 25,000 to 150,000 capsules an hour
- Materials they fill
- Powders, pellets, granules, tablets and combinations of these
- Types we supply
- Automatic, semi-automatic and manual
The capsule filling machines we supply, and their working principle
Every capsule filling machine Fabtech supplies opens each empty hard capsule, puts a measured dose into the body and closes the capsule again.
A production machine repeats this thousands of times an hour. It is also called a capsule filler or an encapsulation machine.
Most hard capsules are made of gelatin, so it is often called a hard gelatin capsule filling machine.
On most automatic machines, the capsules sit in a turret, a round table that turns in steps. A station is a position on the turret where one job is done.
Follow one capsule through six steps. A turret often has more stations than steps, because one step can use more than one station.
1. Feeding and turning
Empty capsules lie in every direction in the hopper, the feed container. The machine turns each one, so that the body points down and the cap points up.
It can do this because the cap is wider than the body.
2. Separating the cap and the body
Each capsule drops into a holder made of an upper and a lower segment. Suction pulls the body into the lower segment.
The cap is too wide to follow, so it stays above. The segments then move apart and leave the body open.
3. Filling the body
The lower segment carries the open bodies to the dosing station. The machine places one measured dose in each body.
For a powder, the dose is a small pressed block called a plug. Some machines have a second dosing station, so one capsule can hold two different materials.
4. Rejecting faulty capsules
Some capsules do not open. A capsule that stayed closed is empty, and it stays whole in the upper segment.
The machine pushes these capsules out before the closing station, so that they do not reach the batch.
5. Closing the capsule
The two segments move back together until each cap is directly above its body. Pins push the bodies up into the caps.
A plate above the caps holds them in place until the two parts lock together.
6. Ejecting and cleaning
Pins push the closed capsules out of the segments and into a chute, a sloping channel. After the capsule has left, compressed air and suction clean the empty holes in both segments.
Powder left in a hole would stop the next capsule from sitting and opening correctly.
How the dose is made: tamping pin or dosator
An automatic capsule filling machine measures each dose of powder by volume.
It presses the powder lightly into a plug and pushes the plug into the capsule body. Most machines do this with tamping pins or with a dosator.
The tamping pin and dosing disc machine
The dosing disc is a steel disc with rings of holes, and it turns in steps under a bed of powder. At each step, rods called tamping pins press powder into the holes.
A last pin pushes the finished plug into the capsule body.
The dosator capsule filling machine
A dosator is a hollow tube with a piston inside. It dips into a bed of powder and takes up a column of it.
The piston presses the column into a plug, then pushes the plug out over the capsule body.
Pellets and tablets
Pellets often carry a coating that must not be crushed. They are dropped into the body without pressing.
How pellets are made and tested is in our guide to pharmaceutical pelletization.
Small tablets are counted and dropped in. Powder, pellets and tablets each need their own dosing station.
Manual, semi-automatic and automatic capsule filling machines
Capsule filling machines differ in how much of the work the operator does by hand.
Type
Semi-automatic capsule filling machine
- What the operator does
- Moves a ring of capsules by hand between the loading, filling and closing stations
- Who it suits
- Small and medium batches, and plants that change product often. It needs more operator time
Automatic capsule filling machine
- What the operator does
- Loads capsules and powder, and watches the machine. Every station runs on one turret
- Who it suits
- Regular production, where output and steady fill weight matter most
On a semi-automatic machine, the powder is open to the room for most of the batch. A potent product harms workers in very small amounts, so this machine does not suit one.
How to choose a capsule filling machine for your product
Send these facts with your enquiry.
Each one changes the specification.
What you tell usWhat it decides
- The fill, which is what goes into the capsule: powder, pellets, granules, tablets or a mix
- The dosing stations the machine needs
- How the powder flows and how well it holds together
- How the dosing station is set up. Tamping pins need a powder that flows well. A dosator needs a powder that sticks together a little
- The capsule size and the fill weight
- The change parts, which are the machine parts swapped to run a different capsule size. Standard sizes run from 000, the biggest, to 5, the smallest
- The output you need, in capsules an hour
- The size of the machine
- The number of products on one machine
- How quickly the parts that touch the product must come off for cleaning
- How potent the powder is
- The dust control: dust extraction (suction) at the machine, or a sealed enclosure around it
A capsule body holds a fixed volume. So a light powder needs a bigger capsule than a dense powder for the same dose.
On a machine that turns in steps, two numbers give the output. They are the capsules filled at each step and the steps in a minute.
Multiply them, then multiply by 60 for the output in an hour. Real output is lower, because the machine stops for checks and cleaning.
The room and the line around the machine
The room
Capsule shells change with the humidity of the air. In dry air, a gelatin shell turns brittle and can crack.
In humid air, it softens and sticks. So the air system must hold the humidity of the filling room in a set range.
Dust is extracted at the machine. Fabtech designs and builds these rooms.
Some powders take up water from the air and need a drier room. Our guide to low RH cleanrooms covers the air system for a room at low relative humidity (RH).
When the powder is potent
For a potent powder, the plant needs containment, which means keeping a harmful product away from the people who make it. The most potent powders need the most containment.
The machine then runs inside an isolator, a sealed cabinet that the operator works in through gloves fixed in its wall.
Fabtech supplies the capsule filling isolator that goes around the machine. Decide this before you order, because it changes how operators reach and clean the machine.
The line before and after
A line is the row of machines a product passes through, one after another. Before filling, a powder that flows badly is granulated in our fluid bed processor.
Granulation makes fine powder into granules.
The powder is then blended. Our pharmaceutical blenders mix the active ingredient, the substance that treats the disease, evenly through the powder.
Every capsule then holds the same dose. Fabtech supplies both machines in its pharma process equipment range.
After filling, capsules are usually polished (cleaned of loose powder on the outside), sorted to remove empty ones, and packed. The steps before filling are in our guide to the OSD manufacturing process.
OSD means oral solid dosage: tablets and capsules. For the plant around the line, see oral solid dosage facility design.
How the machine is supplied and qualified
The capsule filling machines we supply are automatic, semi-automatic or manual.
They fill powders, pellets, granules, tablets and combinations of these, at 25,000 to 150,000 capsules an hour. They work with various capsule sizes.
Our main work is turnkey pharmaceutical projects, where one contract covers the whole job. So we can supply the machine together with the line and the room around it.
Fabtech installs the equipment it supplies in plants around the world. For the equipment we supply, we also make sure spare parts, change parts and service are ready.
Qualification means proving, with written tests, that the plant works as designed. A single machine is qualified in the same way.
The work starts from your User Requirement Specification (URS), the written list of what the machine must do.
Fabtech qualifies its process equipment in a set sequence. In that sequence, a machine is tested before it ships, in a factory acceptance test (FAT).
It is tested again at the buyer's plant, in a site acceptance test (SAT). The full DQ/IQ/OQ/PQ sequence (design, installation, operational and performance qualification) is on our equipment qualification page.
A machine for a plant licensed to make medicines is built to cGMP, which means current good manufacturing practice. The parts that touch the powder come off for cleaning.
FAQ
How does an automatic capsule filling machine work?
On most automatic machines, the capsules sit in a turret that turns in steps. The machine turns each empty capsule so that the body points down, pulls the body from the cap and fills the body. It removes capsules that did not open, closes the rest and ejects them.
How does a semi-automatic capsule filling machine work?
On a semi-automatic capsule filling machine, the operator moves a ring of capsules by hand between three stations. The first station loads the capsules and opens them. The second fills the bodies with powder. The third closes the capsules and ejects them.
What are the different types of capsule filling machines?
There are manual, semi-automatic and automatic machines. On a manual machine, the operator does every step by hand. On a semi-automatic machine, the operator moves the capsules between stations. An automatic machine runs every station on one turret. Fabtech supplies all three types.
What is the capacity of a capsule filling machine?
Fabtech supplies capsule filling machines with a capacity from 25,000 to 150,000 capsules an hour. Capacity is the number of capsules a machine fills in one hour. Tell us the output you need, and we will specify a machine for it.
What is a capsule filling machine called?
A capsule filling machine is also called a capsule filler, an encapsulator or an encapsulation machine. For hard capsules, each name means a machine that fills empty capsules and closes them. A machine that makes soft capsules is a different machine.
Can a capsule filling machine fill pellets and tablets?
Yes. The machines Fabtech supplies fill powders, pellets, granules, tablets and combinations of these. Each kind of fill needs its own dosing station, so decide which fills you plan before the machine is specified.
Which capsule filling machine is the best?
No single machine is best. An automatic machine suits regular production, where output and steady fill weight matter most. A semi-automatic machine suits small batches and frequent product changes. A manual machine suits development work. If the powder is harmful to breathe, decide how to enclose the machine before you order it.
How much does a capsule filling machine cost?
The cost depends on the type of machine, its output and its dust control. These are machines for licensed pharmaceutical plants. We quote each one after we see your product, capsule size and output. A tray for filling capsules at home is a different product.
Tell us your product, capsule size and hourly output, and we will specify the machine