Aspar selects Mettler Toledo's detectors for new production lines

Mettler Toledo, a global manufacturer and marketer of precision instruments for use in laboratory, industrial&food retailing applications, recently announced that UK-based Aspar Pharmaceuticals has installed two more Tablex metal detectors on its two new production lines.

Designed specifically for inspection of solid-dose tablets, SAFELINE's Tablex detectors find minute fragments of metal at inspection rates in excess of 10,000 tablets per minute. This capability, combined with high sensitivity and reliable performance, convinced fast-growing Aspar to install two more Tablex metal detectors on two of its new production lines.

Tablex detectors are fitted with a number of fail-safe features, including a bi-stable solenoid designed to move the diverter valve to the reject position should a power failure occur. The detectors also feature automatic balance control for set-and-forget operation.

A crystal-controlled oscillator and advanced detector head design deliver stability, and its high frequency coil system provides sensitivity to all metal types without the need for periodic adjustment. The latest installation at Aspar continues a close relationship between the two companies, which stems back to 1996 when Aspar commissioned its first SAFELINE SX-M pharmaceutical detector.

"Our SAFELINE equipment has never let us down - it is exceptionally consistent, reliable, and provides us with an extremely high standard of metal screening," opined Tom Burke, manufacturing manager, Aspar Pharmaceuticals. The new machines will inspect a range of tablets including paracetamol, aspirin, dispersible aspirin, ibuprofen and saccharin. The company's routine test procedures confirm that their Tablex machines can consistently detect and reject stainless steel test spheres as small as 0.39 mm.