Single Tablet Press, around 1870-1900

Description

These three examples of the single tablet press, or Brockedon press, were manufactured by S. Maw, Son and Thompson around 1870-1900.
The basic design of the single tablet press consisted of three parts: a base die, a sleeve and a close fitting cylindrical punch.
This simple early tablet machine only produced one compressed tablet at a time, using the following method:
• The sleeve was placed on the base die
• The pharmacist then introduced a weighed amount of powder into the sleeve
• The punch was then fitted and struck with a hammer – thus producing a compressed tablet.

Fact

The first tablet making device was patented by William Brockedon in 1843, who is credited as the inventor of the compressed tablet.
Called a single tablet press or Brockedon press, it produced a measured dose of the active ingredients by compressing and without the use of a binding agent as in pill preparation.