THE TABLETTING PROCESS

2. Compression

Once the die has been filled, the granule must be compressed to give the correct hardness. Particular care must be taken here to ensure that the tablet is not over compressed, which can result in damage to the Tooling and machine. A tablet which is too loosely compressed, however, will be badly formed and will crumble easily, leading to inaccurate dosage and poor quality. To ensure that all air is removed from the granule, the tablet is first pre-compressed at a reduced pressure, before full compression takes place. This 61 lows the machine to run at much higher speeds.

6. The upper punch is lowered down into the bore of the die.

7. Pre-compression gives the powder an initial 'punch' to remove excess air before

8. the powder is fully compressed and

9. the correct pressure is reached.

10. the upper punch is then lifted out of the way ready for tablet ejection. (For guidance on compression levels for each tablets type, refer to the maximum pressure chart opposite or the manufacturers handbook.)

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