China’s flat-plate blister packaging machines originally evolved from standalone, manual multi-set units. To advance this technology, our company referenced the FA3 machine manufactured by the Italian Farquer Company, transitioning the drive mechanism from a synchronous motor-driven roller to a mechanical drive (resulting in our original DGB-250 model). This breakthrough effectively resolved the issue of synchronous accumulated errors inherent in earlier designs (China Patent No.: 90203244.5). However, because the stroke length dictated the diameter of the driving roller, the setup remained difficult to adjust once configured.
The subsequent DPP-250C Blister Packaging Machine adopted a linear reciprocating mechanical arm gripping mechanism (Patent No.: 98211934.8), successfully overcoming the fixed-stroke limitation of the original DGB model. When equipped with a mechanical forming device and a dedicated feeder, this model became fully capable of Alu-Alu (double aluminum) blister packaging (Patent No.: 98247588.8).
Our latest upgrade, the DPP-250D Alu-PVC and Alu-Alu Blister Packaging Machine, utilizes rigid coupling across key stations—including forming, heat-sealing, creasing, and blanking—and their respective cams. The main motor drives the transmission shaft via a reducer, seamlessly connecting the cams of each station. Its unique structural design allows the internal pressure at each station to automatically offset positive and negative forces through the tensile strength of the vertical shafts and bolts. This innovation replaces the traditionally heavy cast-iron frames, reducing the equipment’s total weight of the equipment from 1.5 tons to 1.2 tons.
Key Features Include:
Integrated Modular Structure: The equipment adopts a streamlined, integrated design, with components sized to fit into a standard 1.5-meter elevator, making it ideal for installation in segmented purification workshops.
Freely Adjustable Stroke and Positioning: The pull stroke and position of each station are fully adjustable. A scaled handwheel is routed to an accessible location outside the machine’s front enclosure. With an adjustable stroke range of 30–120 mm, the machine ensures highly accurate positioning and convenient operation.
Extended Machine Bed: The lengthened machine frame extends the cooling and forming duration after heat-sealing, ensuring the blister plates remain perfectly flat and smooth. This spacious design also resolves the maintenance difficulties caused by the cramped layouts of earlier models.
Enlarged Cam Profile: Increased cam sizes extend the vertical travel distance for each station, accommodating a maximum blister depth of 35 mm. This meets specialized packaging requirements for high-density pills, medical devices, and food products.
Photoelectric Registration: The machine incorporates photoelectric correction for printed aluminum foil (Patent No.: 00209043.0), replacing traditional scattered arrangements and significantly enhancing the aesthetic grade of the packaged finished products.
Advanced Capsule Packaging Functions: The system includes standardized features for premium capsule packaging, such as ordered arrangement modules (Patent No.: 98245699.9) and a closed intaglio printing device.
Over more than a decade of joint industry efforts, China’s blister packaging machine manufacturers have learned from one another while absorbing the strengths of advanced foreign technologies. Today, the performance and appearance of domestic machines are highly competitive with imported equipment, and several components have confidently achieved the international standards of the 1990s.
Furthermore, these machines have successfully begun to enter developed markets in Europe and the Americas. This milestone fundamentally ends our industry’s historical reliance on imported equipment, shifting our narrative from simply saving foreign exchange to actively earning it on the global stage.
Yang Yijun
(Originally published in Pharmaceutical Machinery News, 1999, Issue 5)