WO2004083069A1

WO2004083069A1 - Improvements in or relating to blister packaging

Info

Publication number: WO2004083069A1
Application number: PCT/AU2004/000296
Authority: WO
Inventors: Gerard Stevens
Original assignee: Manrex Pty Ltd
Priority date: 2003-03-21
Filing date: 2004-03-11
Publication date: 2004-09-30
Also published as: US20040069675A1

Abstract

A blister holder has a flexible base (13) and a plinth (15) surrounding its open-side. Integrally moulded with the blister are four ribs (16) which are spaced from the plinth (15) to provide means for locating a double-thickness carrier sheet (1) between them. The carrier sheet is made from cardboard sufficiently flexible to be easily printed and which is provided with a fold-line and registering apertures on opposite sides of the fold-line. The blister holder can be pushed through registering aperture of the sheets and the material forming the wall of the blister yields sufficiently for the ribs (16) to pass through the registering apertures so that the double thickness of the carrier (1) is trapped between the rib (16) and the plinth (15). The double thickness of the carrier resists :subsequent withdrawal movement of the holder in the reverse direction.

Description

IMPROVEMENTS IN OR RELATING TO BLISTER PACKAGING

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

THIS INVENTION relates lo blister packaging and is more specifically concerned with an improvement in, or modification of the invention disclosed in the specification of Standard Patent Application No. 1 4742/02 (hereinafter referred to as "the Parent Application") to which the present application is for a patent of addition.

STATE OF THE ART

Items such as pharmaceutical medication in the form of tablets and capsules prescribed by a doctor, are commonly dispensed by pharmacists to patients in the form of blisters 0 pre-loaded with medication the patient is required to take at a particular time on a particular day. These blisters are commonly mounted on a carrier sheet marked with the limes of day and the days of the week when the medication is to be taken.

Blister packaging mounted on a carrier sheet as described above is easy and^' convenient to use when the patient is educated and understands the need to comply

, _ with a doctor's advice. However there are sections of the community which, because 15 ^y of their remoteness, may be poorly educated or live a nomadic life style. This results in conventionally designed blister packaging being easily damaged or mislaid, and often the compliance markings on them cannot be understood. The cost of replacing such packaging can be considerable - quite apart form the cost of replacing the medication 20 - and this increases the difficulties associated with servicing the health needs of isolated outback communities.

The Parent Application provides blister packaging which reduces these problems. I t describes a blister package for mounting in an aperture of a printed carrier sheet and which comprises a holder made from plastics material and having a loading opening 25 surrounded by a resiliently flexible wall portion providing a socket, a lid for closing the opening and formed with a resiliently flexible spigot which fits snugly into the socket t o close it securely; co-operating fixtures on the spigot and socket which retain the lid closed until the packaging is to be opened; means for facilitating the removal of the lid from the holder when its contents arc to be accessed; and, spaced elements projecting outwardly from the blister package in the vicinity of the spigot and socket, at least one o! the elements being spaced Jrom the holder opening by a distance not less than the thickness of the carrier sheet. Such a blister package will hereinafter be described as "a blister package of the type defined".

A problem which can be encountered with a blister package of the type defined, as that the force required to open the lid, which is a snug fit in the socket of the holder may pull said one element of the holder past the marginal edge of the aperture in the carrier sheet with the result that the holder is no longer firmly attached to the carrier sheet. One could, for example, overcome this problem by using a stiffer carrier sheet. However the carrier sheet carries printing, and problems are encountered when printing stiff sheets of material which are not present when printing flexible sheets of material. This problem increases the cosl of production of the blister packaging.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION 5 An object of this invention is to provide an improved blister package.

THE INVENTION

In accordance with the present invention blister packaging comprises in combination, a blister package for mounting in an aperture of a printed carrier sheet and which 0 comprises a holder made from plastics material and having a loading opening surrounded by a resiliently flexible wall portion providing a socket; a lid for closing the opening and formed with a resiliently flexible spigot which fits snugly into the socket t o close it securely; co-operating fixtures on the spigot and socket which retain the lid closed until the packaging is to be opened; means for facilitating the removal of the lid ^• 5 from the holder when its contents are to be accessed; and, spaced elements projecting outwardly from the blister package in the vicinity of the spigot and socket, at least one of the elements being spaced from tine holder opening by a distance not less than twice the thickness of the carrier s eet which is formed from at least two superimposed sheet thicknesses, each thickness having a line of apertures containing

_™ the holders and which register with corresponding apertures in the second thickness of the sheet . PREFERRED FEATURES OF THE INVENTION

Preferably the superimposed thicknesses of flexible sheeting are formed from a single flexible sheet which is first printed and apertured to provide two parallel lines of ^' apertures, and is provided with a weakened fold line suitably positioned midway between the two aperture lines and which allows the sheet to be folded easily along the line, after printing, to bring the lines of apertures into registration so that each holder is snugly held in position by at least a double thickness of the carrier sheet. The fold line conveniently comprises a crease line in the sheet.

INTRODUCTION TO THE DRAWINGS

The invention will now be described in more detail, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying largely diagrammatic drawings, in which:-

IN THE DRAWINGS

FIGURE 1 is a plan view of an unfolded flexible cardboard carrier sheet bearing printing and formed with two lines of aperturing and a crease line extending midway between the two lines of apertures;

FIGURE 2 is a side view of a blister packaging combination comprising a line of blister packages held in place by a double thickness of the carrier sheet;

FIGURE 3 is a side view of two blister packages in their open condition and mounted on a folded carrier sheet, the positions of lids of the package when in their closed positions being shown in phantom outline;

FIGURES 4, 5, 6 and 7 are sections through figure 3 taken on the lines and in the directions of the arrows TV-lV, V__V, Vi-VT and VTi-VTi respectively; and,

FIGURE 8 is a plan view of the assembled blister packaging. DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Figures 1 and 2 show a flexible carrier sheet of printed cardboard 1 about 1 mm. thick and providing a carrier having two parallel lines of seven apertures 3. A crease line 9 is formed midway between the two lines of apertures 3 and provides a line of weakness along which the sheet may be easily f olded.

Figure 2 shows a line of seven blister packages 2 which are vacuum-formed from a transparent strip 4 of Ihermo-plastics material. As shown in figure 3 each package comprises a holder 5 connected by a hinge line 6 to a lid 7. The material of the strip 4 is such that it is stiffly resiliently flexible but when its thickness is reduced in the region 0 of the central portion 13 of the holder 5 by the vacuum-forming process, the material of the strip 4 loses its resilience and acquires great flexibility. Typically the strip is made from polyvinylchloride (PVC) and is 0.3 mm thick before it is vacuum-formed.

As shown in figures 3, 4 and 7, the holder 5 is rectangular in plan with rounded corners when viewed in cross-section, and is sufficiently deep to hold a number of medications

, c or tablets which are to be taken by a patient at a particular time on a particular day. These times and days are signified by printing on the carrier sheet 1 alongside the blister packages as shown in figure 8. The holder provides a generally rectangular medication loading opening 12 which may be closed by the insertion into it of a spigot 10 provided on the lid 7. The lid is also provided with an upwardly-angled tab portion

20 20 which can be gripped between the fingers to pull the spigot 4 from the socket o f the holder 5 when the package is to be opened.

As may be seen from figures 3, 4 and 6, the portion of the holder 5 surrounding the opening 12 provides a wall 14 which is still resiliently flexible, as its thickness has not been reduced to the same extent as the central portion 13. An element in the form of 25 a plinth-like flange 1 5 surrounds the wall 14 around the opening 12 and is formed during the blow-moulding process. The flange limits movement of the holder 5 in one direction through the aperture 3 of the carrier sheet 1 . l o assemble the blislci packaging the shoel 1 is first folded along the ciease line 9 to provide- α earner of double Ihickne .s of the sheet and with the two lines of apertures 3 l egislat ing with one anothci

The wall 14 of the opening 12 is provided with foui outwaidly projecting elements foi mocl as i lbs 16 extending pai allel lo, but spaced from the flange 15 One rib 16 is foi med on each of the foui sides of the holdei , respectively, and the nbs provide elements for limiting movement of the holdei 5 in the reveisc du ection through the apei tui e 3 One side of each πb is less sloping than the other to assist insertion of the holdei into its apci lui c in the carper while the moi c steeply sloping side of the rib l esists movement of the holdei in the icveisc dii oction The spacing between the steeply-sloping sides of the ribs 16 and the flange 15 is slightly lai ger than twice the thickness of the carπci sheet 1 so thai Ihe holdei 5 can bo inserted into any one of the registering sets of apci lui cs in Ihe folded sheet 1 until the less sloping sides of the ribs 16 encounter the marginal edge of the two thicknesses of sheet 1 surrounding the i cgislGi ing apertures By exci ting a lilllc moi c pi essui e on the holdei , the wall 14 of Ihe holdei yields i csilicnlly lo allow Ihe nbs 1 6 lo pass through Ihe l egistcπng apertures 3 The holder 5 is now ti apped in the opening 3 by contact of the more steeply sloping sides of its ribs 1 6 with one face of the double thicknesses of the sheel 1 and the conlαct of its flange 1 b with (he opposite face of Iho double thickness sheet 1

The contial spigot 10 provided on the lid 7 is shaped to fit snugly into the socket provided by the intenor surface of the wall 14 of the holder 5 The spigot 10 is provided externally at its leading end with foui elongated detents 17 shaped to fit in l especlive troughs provided by the inloi ioi s of the nbs 1 6 of the holder 5 This is shown in phantom outline in figure 3 Each lid 7 is sopai ated from its neighbour by a cut in the strip 4, as shown at 18, so that the packages can be opened and closed independently The hinge 6, provided by a i cducod thickness lino in the plastics material of the slπp 4 , onsuies lhal Ihe lid 7 and holdei 5 of each package remain togelhei when the package is opened The lab 20 loi med along the edge-portion of Ihe lid 7 l emolc fi om Ihe hinge 6, is angled upwardly so that it can bo easily gi ippc l between the fingers to facilitate the progressive release o( Ihe lid from the holdei 5 when it contents are to be accessed, without risk of the holder being dislodged from Ihe rcgistci ing npoi lui os 3 of the

OPERATION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

It will be noted from Ihe phantom outline in figure 3 that when the package is closed, the spigot 1 0 fits snugly against the inside wall 14 and its detents 17 fil into the intei iois of the nbs 16. As apparent from figures 5 and 6, the shape of the spigot 1 0 is such thai it is fairly resistant to inwaid flexing. However this resistance is not sufficient to prevent the entry of the spigot 10 of the lid 7 into the socket provided by the wall 14 of the holder. The icsislancc to inwaid flexing of Ihe spigot 10 acts t o reinfoi cc the nalυi al i csislancc lo inwaid Hexing ol Ihe wall 14 ol Ihe holder 5 so tha t (he sum ol the Iwo resistances is sufficient to pi evcnt inadvertent withdi awal of the closed package from its opening 3 in the carrici sheet 1 , as a result of inward yielding of Ihe wall of the holder 5. The double thickness of Ihe carrier sheet i educes the risk of ils maiginal edge suuounding Ihe holdei toai mg from the foice used lo withdraw the lid 7 from the holdei 5.

The above described arrangement of package is r elatively cheap and easy to manufacture, assemble and use, and the spigol and socket ariangemenl of the lid and holder coupled with the avoidance of holes in the holder, greatly reduces risk of the contenls of the closed holder being contaminated by dust and other pollutants. The package can be used many limes without adverse effects, and can be made compactly by arranging the lines of openings 3 in staggered formation and by providing further fold lines on the carrier sheet. These enable the packages lo interfit with one another when Ihe sheet is folded to bring the assembly into its transport condition. The packages then protect one another from damage and the folded sheet can be transported inside a matchbox-like surrounding sleeve. MODIFICATIONS OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

If desned, more than two superimposed thicknesses of the sheet ol the carrier can be used should a thinner and more flexible card is required for the carrier sheet. Also, the printing may bo provided on a separate papei sheet which con then be glued or olheiwisc attached to Ihe sheet ol the carrier.

Claims

CLAIMS :

1 Blister packaging compi ising, in combination a blistci packag . foi mounting in an aperture of a punted carrier sheet and which compi ises a holdei made from plastics material and having a loading opening sunoundod by a resiliently flexible wall portion providing a socket, a lid foi closing the opening and foi mcd wilh a l esilienlly flexible spigot which fits snugly inlo Ihe socket lo close it securely, co-operating fixtures on the spigot and socket which r etain the lid closed until the packaging is to be opened, means foi facilitating the removal of Ihe lid from the holdei when its contents are t o be accc sed, and, spaced elements projecting outwai dly from Ihe blister package in the vicinity of the spigot and socket, at least one of Ihe elements being spaced from Ihe holdei opening by a distance not less than twice the thickness of the carrier sheet which is formed from at least two supei imposed sheet thicknesses, each thickness having a line of apertures containing Ihe holdcis and which i cgistoi with coi i csponding apertui o in Ihe second thickness ol Ihe sheet

2 Blister packaging as claimed in claim 1 , in which Ihe cat nor shoot is formed from flexible sheeting having a fold-line positioned midway between the two lines of apertui es so that the lines of apertui es ai e brought inlo l egisti ation with one another when the earner sheet is folded along the fold-line

3 Blister packaging as claimed in claim 2, in which the fold-line is formed by a linear weakening cicasc in Ihe earner sheet

4 The combination claimed in claim 1 , in which the camel sheet has more than two thicknesses superimposed upon one anothei and each of which contains a registering line of apertures

5 Blister packaging as claimed in any one of the proceeding claims, in which the carrici sheet compi isos cardboaid having a paper shoot boat ing pπnling attached t o