This invention relates to the provision of an improved blister pack for pharmaceutical products.

There is a well known requirement in the pharmaceutical industry that medicines, especially tablets, should be difficult for children to open but may be opened more easily by adults who have impaired mobility in their fingers and hands.

Such packages should preferably be compatible with existing production processes and be economical to manufacture.

Blister Packs are well known wherein pharmaceutical tablets are located in recesses, or blisters, formed in a thin plastic sheet and are retained by an overlay of metallic foil which is heat sealed across the face of the blisters.

Small sheets of such blisters, each commonly containing

8-10 tablets are packed into a cardboard carton for over the counter sales.

Such packages have the disadvantage that if the foil is relatively thin, the blister is easily opened by a child. If the foil is made thicker then, because of the small size of each blister, an elderly or disabled person may have difficulty accessing the tablets.

According to the present invention there is provided a form of blister pack in which the foil may be as thin as required for easy opening but in which access to the foil is restricted by a secondary piece of packaging for the blister sheets.

This secondary packaging takes the form of a cardboard mount, pierced in a regular pattern to accept the protrusions of the individual blisters and then folded in such a way that the foil sides of the blister sheets are brought together between two portions of the mount.

The blisters protrude through the pierced apertures on each side of the folded mount and are clearly visible for a check on the contents, but the vulnerable foil is

completely hidden between the two opposing faces of the mount.

The mount is retained in the folded position by a one part locking fixture attached to one face of the mount, or by a two part locking fixture attached to two faces of the mount. The locking fixture may be retained to the face of the mount either by way of gluing around an aperture or by being glued directly to the plain face.

A specific embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figl shows the pierced, unfolded, mount before attachment of additional components.

Fig2 shows the pierced, unfolded, mount after attachment of additional components.

Fig3 shows the assembled mount partly folded.

Fig4 shows the finished package after completion of the folding stage.

More specifically,

Figl shows a card mount 1 provided with apertures 3 through which the blisters of the blister pack will protrude. An aperture 4 on one side of the mount mates with a feature on the locking fixture to be glued to the plain area 5. A perforated panel 6 allows access to open the clip and provides a tamper evident feature to show the pack has not been opened. The crease or perforation 2 will assist in future folding and the extended blank area 7 may be used for printed text, mounting of an information leaflet or an RFID label.

In Fig2 the blister pack sheets have been mounted with the blisters 9 protruding through the card mount 1.

A hinged one piece locking fixture 8 has been glued to a face of the mount, over the top of the perforated access panel 6.

In Fig3 the card mount has been reversed revealing the sealing foils 10 which cover the product in the blisters and information leaflet 11 has been mounted. Folding has commenced along crease line 2.

Aperture 4 on one side of the mount will engage with a feature 12 on clip 8.

The finished product is shown in Fig4. The second half of clip 8 has been folded over and snap-locked in place.

Sealing foils 10 and leaflet 11 are protected within the pack and blisters 9 are clearly visible.

The pack is opened by first pushing the perforated panel 6 inwards, allowing finger pressure to be applied to a flap moulded within the glued face of closing fixture 8, this flap then bears on the other half of the closing fixture and so releases it.

A window may or may not be provided in the mount to confirm the presence of the information leaflet and an

RFID label may or may not be incorporated.

The blister sheet will preferably be permanently bonded to the card mount and may be in the form of two separate sheets as shown in the example or a single sheet which is locally weakened so that it folds with the mount.

The locking fixture will preferably be a plastic injection moulding or mouldings, bonded to the card mount by ways which are well known to those skilled in the art.

The form of these closing fixtures is subject to infinite variation as exemplified by the fixing used to hold plastic box lids, press studs and the like. Metal pressings may also be used, or the two leaves of the mount may be held together with a peelable adhesive.

Alternatively the whole cover mount and locking fixture could be thermo-formed from plastic.