Capsules with appearance defects are inevitable during the production process. Since the appearance of the capsule affects the filling of the capsule product, the desire of the consumer to purchase, etc., it is an important step in the capsule production process to check whether the capsule has an appearance defect.
Capsule appearance defects are classified into three categories according to the Standards of China Pharmaceutical Packaging Association.
Class A: Defects that will cause the capsule to lose its container characteristics, or the filling machine to seriously shut down, or the filling production to be delayed.
Class B: Defects that cause problems with filling operations.
Class C: Defects that do not affect the filling operation but affect the appearance of the capsule.
Here are some specific defects on empty capsule appearance.
| Capsule appearance defects and their description | ||
| Class A | Hole | holes caused by any reason |
| Uncut cap/body | An untrimmed cap or body | |
| Crack/Notch | Cutting edge crack > 2 mm, notch > 2 mm | |
| Short body | The length of body is 1mm or shorter than the specified length | |
| Squeezed shell | Body or cap is flattened or twisted | |
| Inseting | When the capsule is fitted, the cap and body are interspersed with each other | |
| Trimming | Any cut off part of the body or cap after cutting | |
| Class B | Crack/Notch | Cutting edge cracks greater than 1 mm and notches larger than 1 mm |
| Single section | Separated body or cap | |
| Pleat | The length of a single longitudinal pleat on the capsule is greater than 5 mm; The depression or bulge is 1 mm larger. | |
| Lock | The capsule cap body has reached the final lock position | |
| Double cap | An additional cap on the capsule body | |
| Top concave | The diameter of the top concave part: 00#, 0# capsule> 5mm, 1#, 2#, 3#, 4# capsule> 4mm | |
| Thin wall | Thin wall part of the cap or body ≤0.03mm | |
| Short/long cap | The length of the cap is shorter/longer than the specified length by more than 1mm | |
| Long body | The length of the body is longer than the specified length by more than 1mm | |
| Class C | Crack/Notch | Cutting edge crack ≤ 2 mm, notch ≤ 2 mm |
| bubble | Bubbles with a diameter greater than 0.5 mm or more than three (including three) bubbles larger than 0.3 mm in diameter | |
| Pleat | The longitudinal pleat length on the capsule is greater than 3mm | |
| Top concave | The diameter of the top concave part: 00#, 0# capsule> 3 mm; 1#, 2#, 3#, 4# capsule> 2mm | |
| Black point / heterochromatic point | Black dots or non-capsule color points with a diameter greater than 0.3 mm on the capsule | |
| Top star-shaped fold | Top star-shaped fold diameter: 00#, 0# capsule> 3 mm; 2#, 3#, 4# capsule> 2mm | |
| Scratch | Scratched length outside ≥ 2mm | |
| Pleat | Wrinkles on the capsule wall>(3*2)mm | |
| Hanging wire | Cutting edge with hanging wire: 00#, 0#, 1# capsule ≥ 3 mm; 2#, 3#, 4# capsule ≥ 2 mm. | |
Referance: Standards of China Pharmaceutical Packaging Association
