	US 11,987,404 B2
	Method for filling containers with a powder
Luciano Marcelloni, Milan (IT); and Federico Bertocchi, Milan (IT)
Assigned to NTC S.R.L., Milan (IT)
Appl. No. 17/279,549
Filed by NTC S.R.L., Milan (IT)
PCT Filed Feb. 26, 2020, PCT No. PCT/IB2020/051650 § 371(c)(1), (2) Date Mar. 24, 2021, PCT Pub. No. WO2020/174423, PCT Pub. Date Sep. 3, 2020.
Claims priority of application No. 102019000002857 (IT), filed on Feb. 27, 2019.
Prior Publication US 2021/0316889 A1, Oct. 14, 2021
This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.
Int. Cl. B65B 1/14 (2006.01); A23L 27/30 (2016.01); A23P 10/40 (2016.01); A61J 1/00 (2023.01); A61K 9/14 (2006.01); A61K 31/047 (2006.01); B65B 1/08 (2006.01)

CPC B65B 1/14 (2013.01) [A23L 27/34 (2016.08); A23P 10/40 (2016.08); A61J 1/00 (2013.01); A61K 9/14 (2013.01); A61K 31/047 (2013.01); B65B 1/08 (2013.01); A23V 2002/00 (2013.01); B65B 2230/02 (2013.01)]

16 Claims

1. A method for filling containers with a composition that comprises or, alternatively, consists of mannitol in powder form, comprising:

a) breaking up a coherent mass of mannitol powder using a centrifugal drum sieve having a mesh gap size in the range of 2.0-5.0 millimeters, so as to obtain a broken-up mass from said coherent mass; and

b) filling a plurality of containers with the broken-up mass of step a)

wherein each container comprises a container compartment that comprises a first volume fraction and a second volume fraction, wherein at the end of step b) the first volume fraction is occupied by a single-dose composition and the second volume fraction is free from said composition, and wherein the first volume fraction is about two-thirds of a total internal volume of the container compartment and the second volume fraction is about one-third of the total internal volume.