The new LC Lab laboratory coater from Lödige
Redefining user-friendly design
At Interpack 2017, Gebr. Lödige Maschinenbau GmbH is presenting a completely new development with the LC Lab laboratory coater. The model complements the LC coater series, which has been specially developed for coating tasks in the pharmaceutical and food industry. The focus during the design of the LC Lab was on laboratory requirements. The innovative features include, among other things, an FDA-compliant housing material, which is used for this type of machine for the first time, a separable drum and a mobile control panel that makes it easy to read out the data. The nozzle arm, which has been equipped with newly developed nozzles, completes the new development.
This new addition to Lödige LC coater series is modular and can be equipped with the modules required for the coating process.
The LC Lab allows the batch size to be varied. The special feature: the volume of the drum is halved - unlike in conventional systems, however, the drum geometry remains unchanged thanks to the use of a specially developed cutting disc. The nozzle arm can also be easily adjusted. This makes it possible to launch initial trials with cost-intensive active ingredients with little product use. The results achieved can then be applied to larger batches without difficulty.
The machine is characterised by a functionally innovative, FDA-compliant housing material. The surfaces are very easy to clean, while the processing method opens up new design options. The nozzle arm of the lab model was adapted to the requirements in the laboratory in cooperation with the experts from the Düsen-Schlick company: The LC Lab uses high-performance nano-nozzles. These extremely small nozzles achieve optimum atomization of the coating liquid, even at low air pressures. The nozzle arm and thus the nozzle position can be adjusted externally by the operator, as in the case of commercial coaters, and can thus be adapted to product-specific changes to the tablet bed during the coating process. Low-turbulence control of the drying air stream results in an optimum drying process with low spray drying and dusting of the nozzles.
With regard to the user-friendly design of the LC Lab, the control panel also sets new standards. The mobile device is connected to the LC Lab by means of a docking station. If necessary, it can be easily removed in order to transfer the data obtained directly to the PC on the desktop and to evaluate it there. The size of the panel ensures good readability of the display.
