Simethicone/calcium silicate composition

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The preferred simethicone used herein is simethicone U.
S.
P.
as defined in the United States Pharmacopeia, incorporated herein by reference, which has the chemical structure: (CH.
sub.
3).
sub.
3 Si [OSi(CH.
sub.
3).
sub.
2 ].
sub.
n CH.
sub.
3 +SiO.
sub.
2 and the chemical formula: alpha(trimethylsilyl)-omega-methylpoly[oxy(dimethylsilylene)] in mixture with silicon dioxide.
Simethicone is a mixture of fully methylated linear siloxane polymers containing repeating units of the formula [--(CH.
sub.
3).
sub.
2 SiO --].
sub.
n, stabilized with trimethylsiloxy end-blocking units of the formula [(CH.
sub.
3).
sub.
3 SiO--], and silicon dioxide.
It is preferred to contain not less than 90.
5 percent and not more than 99.
0 percent of polydimethylsiloxane ([--(CH.
sub.
3).
sub.
2 SiO--].
sub.
n), and not less than 4.
0 percent and not more than 7.
0 percent of silicon dioxide.
Calcium silicate occurs as Ca.
sub.
2 SiO.
sub.
4, Ca.
sub.
3 Si.
sub.
2 O.
sub.
7, Ca.
sub.
3 (Si.
sub.
3 O.
sub.
9) and Ca.
sub.
4 (H.
sub.
2 Si.
sub.
4 O.
sub.
13) with various percentages of water of crystallization.
Calcium silicate minerals are known by various names including larnite, hillebrandite, foshagite, afwillite, foshallasite, gjellebaekite, grammite, table spate, wollastonite, xonaltite, xonotlite, eaklite and calcium pectolith.
Commercial synthetic calcium silicates sold for industrial use include the product family sold by the Manville Corp.
under the trademark Micro-Cel.
The synthetic calcium silicates useful for this invention are any of a number of commercially available calcium silicates formed as a hydrous calcium silicate produced by the hydrothermal reaction of diatomaceous silica, hydrated lime and water.
Such synthetic calcium silicate described herein would have a total surface area of from about 50 to about 190 square meters per gram and a particle size of from about 5 to about 20 microns.
The present invention is specifically directed to a process for the incorporation of simethicone into a fine powder for incorporation into, for example, tablets or capsules