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Pharmaceuticals companies could colour pills using a technology similar to
that of photocopiers, says Colorcon of Dartford, Kent (GB 2 336 551).
Conventional coating using coloured sugar involves the use of liquids. Colorcon
lodges the raw pills in insulated pits in the surface of a drum. As this
rotates, an electrostatic spray gun blasts the pills with a charged mist of
polyethylene glycol. The charged pills then attract coloured sugar powder from a
tray, like toner in a photocopier. As the drum rotates past a heated bar, the
glycol evaporates and the powder coating is fused to the pills.