Film-enrobed unitary-core medicament and the like

Abstract

A medicine tablet is described as a new article of manufacture. The table is enrobed in a gelatin coating formed by application of respective layers of elastic gelatin film to opposite sides of the tablet. The applied gelatin layers conform tightly to the tablet surface, bond securely to the tablet, and are sealed together in essentially edge-to-edge manner at a seal line which extends around the tablet at a desired place on the tablet. The gelatin layers can be colored differently from the tablet and differently from each other. A range of formulations are described for film which can be peelable from a tablet or other product core, and for films which bond to the core. A presently preferred formulation for producing tablets having a bonded tamper-evident coating comprises a water-based gelatin preparation having about 45% gelatin and about 9% plasticizer (glycerin and/or sorbitol) by weight. Method and apparatus for producing such new products are also described. Product cores can be dispensed on a self-timed basis into essentially simultaneous contact with two enrobing films which are supported on locally recessed coacting rotary dies. The cores contact the films adjacent a nip between the dies at places on the films which overlie die recesses which are oversize relative to the cores. The films deform around each core and are sealed by the dies to each other before the dies coact to cut the enrobed cores from the films. A core feeding mechanism can include an alignent device which causes the cores to have a desired orientation as they are handled by the dies.