The key feature of the new B 1660 blister packaging machines is the way they transfer blister packs to their cartoning units.
Following formation, suction arms move the packs on to a vacuum conveyor belt that carries them to a central depository.
From here the blisters can be introducted into centred blister lanes from where they are loaded into the product chain.
Earlier this year, the Freedonia Group predicted that the US market for blister packaging will grow 4.8 per cent a year and reach a total value of $2.06bn (€1.3bn) by 2012.
The report forecast that the adaptability of blister packaging technology, coupled with the demand for drugs in single unit dose formats that aid patient compliance, will drive the expansion.
An Uhlmann spokesperson told in-PharmaTechnologist.com that machines in the B 1660 range can " package all forms of solid products [and handle] tablets just as reliably as capsules or coated tablets."
She added that " both during production [and] changeovers customers benefit from sophisticated solutions such as the tool quick-change system or the redesigned blister transfer."
She went on to say that contract manufacturer Haupt Pharma, which is based in Brackenheim in Southern Germany, is already using the B 1660 blister machine in conjunction with Uhlmann's C2504 cartoning system.
She declined to provide information on the cost of installing the technology.
Continuous or intermittent Machines in the B 1660 range can produce up to 700 blisters per minute and, according to Uhlmann, are compatible with all common types of forming material.
The units, which feature touch-screen controls with a 3D display, also have a quiet running mode that is designed to improve operator comfort and safety.
The B 1660 technologies are aimed at drugmakers wishing to conduct both continuous motion rotary sealing and intermittent motion platen sealing.
The B 1660 MTK continuous motion system, for example, is suitable for the production of blisters packaging for symmetrical products such as round tablets and capsules.
In contrast, the B 1660 MTI is more suited to the manufacture of calendar and sample packs that have large packets, stiffening ribs as well as all types of aluminium blisters.