US20050103677A1

US20050103677A1 - Pack for medicine in capsule, pill or similar form

Info

Publication number: US20050103677A1
Application number: US10/505,905
Authority: US
Inventors: Pablo Fuchsberger
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2002-03-13
Filing date: 2003-03-12
Publication date: 2005-05-19
Also published as: EP1490272A1; WO2003076297B1; BR0308273A; CN1642822A; JP2006504583A; WO2003076297A1; MXPA04008304A; AU2003227051A1; PE20030886A1; AR042407A1

Abstract

Pack for medicines or other products in capsules or pills characterised in that it consists of a box of a material and manufacturing process which defines that one of the interior faces, which constitutes the box, or two of them house the capsules or pills in similar form to blisters and the interior faces are possibly printed with the directions for use and contraindications or other information of interest to the user and the external ones are printed with information on the manufacturer, trade mark, etc.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present application for Patent of Invention relates to boxes of packs for medicines in the form of capsules, pills or the like, of the type known as blisters and to the procedure for the fabrication thereof.

BACKGROUND

At the moment use is widespread of the so-called “blisters” which hold capsules and/or pills in a sheet made by thermoforming or a similar procedure which forms in a sheet of appropriate material a plurality of cavities wherein the capsules or pills are housed and then the sheet provided with said housings (cavities) is covered with another sheet which hermetically seals the same with the capsules or pills in the interior thereof.
In some cases these blisters are marketed just as they were described and in other cases they are marketed inserted in a cardboard box wherein is also included the prospectus with the directions for use, contraindications and other information. On the exterior of the box is printed the name of the medicine, the trade mark, the laboratory, resolution of approval by the competent body, etc.

DESCRIPTION

The form of the pack of the known prior art and of such widespread use, presents a series of drawbacks which are set out below:
Possibility of alteration of the content of a blister box either by the removal of a blister or by division of the blister removing a section of the same (with some capsules or pills) with a cutting instrument. In the first case, the blister removed from the box reaches the end consumer without the directions for use included on the prospectus.
In the case of blisters marketed without a box, there is difficulty in storage in comparison with blisters in a box, since the shape of the latter facilitates the location of one on top of another without loss of the identification which can be seen on the side of the box, not so in the case of individual or partial blisters.
The pack disclosed consists of a box which is manufactured in the following manner:
Formation, in the appropriate foreseen area, of the cavities for housing the capsules or pills by means of thermoforming or other equivalent procedures.
Location of the pills in the respective cavities.
Cementing by means of a sheet on the aforementioned material enclosing the pills.
Peripheral cutting by means of a sharp instrument.
Formation of the box starting from the previous step by means of an appropriate machine and closure thereof.
The pack which is disclosed can include, on the exterior, the same information as conventional boxes.
Also, the pack which is disclosed, possibly on one of the interior faces, can include in printed form the directions for use which are generally presented on an independent page. The main sheet to which the thermoforming is applied, in the event of being a transparent material, allows the user to see the directions for use printed on the back of the external sheet. On said sheet, in the area corresponding to the exterior of the pack, are printed the details of the manufacturer, the trade mark, resolution of approval of the medicine by the competent body.
In each internal corner of one of the larger faces of the box, it is provided with projections in a position conjugate to the cavities located in that area but on the interior face of the other larger face, the purpose of those projections being to avoid the relative movement characteristic of the parts of the box and to provide the pack with greater stability.
In turn, as the capsules are always inside the box, the use is not necessary of special materials for the protection of some types of light-sensitive medicines. However, in the case of using a pack in which the smaller side walls have been suppressed and the dimensions of the front side wall (closing area) have been reduced, this results in light coming from the exterior being able to penetrate inside the pack. In certain light-sensitive medicines this effect can affect the properties of the capsules or pills. In these particular cases an appropriate material is used for the thermoforming of the pack which houses the capsules or pills which includes protection from the light.

DRAWINGS

For the purpose of facilitating the understanding of the description being made, schematics are attached of two preferred embodiments.

EXAMPLE 1:

Pack with Side Walls

FIG. 1. Initial sheet in which cavities will be implemented for housing the capsules or pills.
FIG. 2. Preceding sheet in which the aforementioned cavities have been implemented.
FIG. 3. Preceding sheet wherein the pills are seen housed in the respective cavities.
FIG. 4. Relative position of the preceding sheet with the sealing sheet possibly printed on its external part with the particular details of the pills and the manufacturer and on the back, the directions for use and contraindications.
FIG. 5. Set of sheets which form the blister and wherein can be appreciated the possible printed messages corresponding to the interior and exterior of the box.
FIG. 6. The set of sheets of FIG. 5 wherein the peripheral cut has been made and the fold lines are appreciated for the subsequent mounting of the box.
FIG. 7. Half-open mounted box wherein the blister is appreciated with the capsules, with internal and external printed messages.

EXAMPLE 2:

Pack Without Side Walls

FIG. 8. Sheet of suitable material in which the aforementioned cavities have been implemented. Said sheet can include protection from the light, in the event that it is required for the product to be held.
FIG. 9. Preceding sheet wherein the pills are appreciated housed in the respective cavities (7) and the projections (6) with which one of the larger faces (5) is provided. Said projections are in a position conjugate to the cavities located in that area but on the interior face of the other larger face.
FIG. 10. Relative position of the preceding sheet with the sealing sheet, possibly printed on its external part with the particular details of the pills and the manufacturer and, on the back thereof, the directions for use and contraindications.
FIG. 11. Half-open mounted box wherein the partial front side wall (1) is appreciated and the section (2) which forms the closing mechanism.
FIG. 12. Half-closed mounted box, wherein the mechanism of closing the pack (3) is appreciated formed by the section (2) located above a larger face (4).

Claims

1. A pack for medicines or other products in pill or capsule form, comprising: a box of such a material and made in such a manufacturing process that one of the interior faces, which constitute the box, or two of them houses the pills or capsules in cavities in a way similar to blister packs, and having a closing system including a prolongation connected along a fold line to one of the longer sides of said face and having a second interior face, and an arrangement for providing stability against relative movements between the parts of the box, which includes a projection in each angle of the second interior face, said projections being in a position conjugate to the cavities located in the corresponding areas.

2. The pack according to claim 1, wherein the box has printed on its interior faces the directions for use and pertinent contraindications.

3. The pack according to claim 1, wherein the material appropriate for thermoforming which houses the capsules or pills can be provided with protection against light coming from the exterior, according to the requirement of the products to be held.

4. A procedure for the production of packs according to claim 1, comprising:

formation, in the appropriate foreseen area, of the cavities for housing the capsules or pills by means of thermoforming or other equivalent procedures;

location of the pills in the respective cavities;

cementing by means of a sheet on the aforementioned material enclosing the pills;

peripheral cutting by means of a sharp instrument; and

formation of the box starting from the previous step by means of an appropriate machine and closure thereof.