Bosch KHS 1 and AIM 3 pharmaceutical inspection machines

Bosch Packaging Technology has released the KHS 1 and AIM 3 pharmaceutical inspection machines.

The KHS 1 is designed for container closure integrity testing of ampoules, vials, bottles, cartridges and syringes using laser headspace analysis (HSA). It measures the absorbed light passing through the headspace region via laser spectroscopy. HSA is applicable to lyophilised products and medicines filled under vacuum or purged with inert gas. The machine inspects both standing and non-standing containers at outputs of up to 600/min and can combine HSA with optional near infrared (NIR) measurement and container coding. A built-in automatic recalibration is continuously performed using certified reference containers.

The AIM 3 is able to perform both visual inspection and high-voltage leak detection (HVLD) for ampoules and vials containing solutions and suspensions at outputs of up to 400 containers/min. In order to sort out damaged containers before they enter the main inspection turret, the machine is equipped with a pre-inspection station. The core module features a high-resolution CMOS camera with high-speed interface for particle and cosmetic inspection, as well as a re-inspection function. The customisable platform can be retrofitted on-site to add further visual inspection stations or the HVLD module. The latter delivers equivalent measurement results for all glass qualities, such as moulded and tubing, as well as clear and amber glass. Both inspection steps are controlled via one common human machine interface (HMI).

To develop its inspection portfolio, Bosch collaborated with Lighthouse Instruments, a provider of non-destructive laser spectroscopy headspace analysis systems.