FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a tamper evident, senior friendly and child

resistant package of the type operable by means of a tear strip.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Blister packs are well know in the art and are widely used to package individual

items such as different forms of medication including tablets, capsules and the like. In

addition, the packaging of a small amount of liquid in an individual blister is known.

Usually, the item or product is accessed through the rear of the blister pack

which is provided with a tear strip.

As aforementioned, there are three different properties which any packaging

ideally possesses. The first is that the package should be tamper evident such that

there will be provided a clear indication when the package has been subject to

tampering. A second feature is that the package be child resistant. As aforementioned,

such packages are frequently used for medication and it is inherently desirable that one

prevents young children from accessing the contents of the blister pack.

However, in making such packaging child resistant, it is also important that the

package still be readily openable by those taking the medication. Since the most

frequent users of medication are seniors, one must take into account the limits of their

ability when they are suffering from various physical problems.

A conventional blister package usually comprises a laminate of a blister layer

having article receiving pockets formed therein and with the article receiving pockets

being covered by a foil backing layer. This foil backing layer is usually a form of an

aluminum foil which is rupturable to permit access to the product in the blister pocket.

While such a package is inherently tamper evident unless the whole foil layer is

replaced, it is not very child resistant and indeed can prove attractive to some children.

To overcome this, there has been suggestions in the art, such as shown in U.S.

Patent 4,537,312 to Intini, to include such certain child resistant features. In the

arrangement of Intini, there is provided a blister package having a front layer and outer

back layer which are sized larger than the conventional package and sealed to one

another around their periphery and through apertures in the laminate. Tabs are

provided at the edges of the sealed front and back layers and which tabs are connected

to tear strips in the back layer, each of which overlays the foil covering a blister

pocket. On removing the tear strips in the back layer, there will be left a layer or

stratum of paperboard which overlays the foil to thereby reinforce it and make it more

difficult for the child to access the product in the blister pocket.

A further feature which must always be considered in designing such products

is the ability to efficiently manufacture the package at a reasonable cost. It is also

highly desirable that the results be reproducible.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide blister pack packaging which

is tamper evident, senior friendly and child resistant.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide blister pack packaging

which is easy to manufacture and overcomes some of the deficiencies of the prior art

packaging.

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a child resistant

and senior friendly tamper evident package, the package comprising a blister sheet having

at least one blister pocket projecting from a front side thereof, a rupturable foil layer

sealed to a back side of the blister sheet to form a continuous cover over the blister pocket,

the foil layer having a thickness and being formed of a material which can be ruptured to

provide access to the pocket, a reinforcing layer of a paperboard material, the reinforcing

layer having a first side with at least portions thereof adhered to the foil layer, at least

some of the adhered portions being in registry with the blister pockets, the paperboard

layer having at least one line of weakening extending from the first side into the board, at

least one line of weakening being located in a portion overlying the blister packet, at least

one line of weakening extending into said board for only a portion of the thickness of the

board, and a tear strip formed in said reinforcing layer, the tear strip being associated with

the blister pocket such that the reinforcing layer will delaminate when the tear strip is

pulled.

In one embodiment of the invention, the delamination of the paperboard and the

ability to eject the product from the pocket is controlled by providing a line of weakening

formed in the paperboard on the face line adjacent to the foil. This line of weakening

permits the product to be dispensed from the blister pocket with less effort than would

otherwise be the case. At the same time, the line of weakening is not evident to a child

since it does not extend through that portion of the paperboard which remains covering the

blister pocket.

In a further aspect of the present invention, the tear strip is interconnected to a tab

and which tab is designed to be lifted to pull the paperboard material from the back of the

foil. In this respect, the paperboard is only adhered to the foil about the periphery of the

blister pocket.

After removal of the paperboard material, the foil may be removed by pushing the

foil in the area of a depression formed in the blister layer. This prevents removal of the

foil with less effort than would otherwise be the case.

The contents in the blister pocket are conventionally tablets or capsules or the like.

The materials utilized in the present invention are well known in the art. Thus, the

blister layer may be formed with a number of blister pockets projecting from a front side

thereof, each designed to receive a unit dosage of a pharmaceutical product or indeed,

some other product. The sheet may comprise a normally rectangular continuous blister

sheet of a flexible clear material which cannot be easily torn or ruptured. Typically, such

a film would be a vinyl thermoplastic film having a thickness in excess of 10 mil.

The rupturable film sealed to the back side of the blister sheet is also well known in

the art and may be selected from many known materials. Typically, such rupturable foils

are of aluminum material having a thickness in the range of 1 mil and which may be

joined to the blister sheet by conventional adhesives such as heat seal or coatings well

known in the art.

In those applications wherein a paper layer is utilized, it again may use a heat

sealable adhesive and comprise paper having a weight of between 13 pounds to 17

pounds.

The reinforcing layer is preferably a paper product such paperboard. The tear strips

in the paperboard layer may be defined by parallel lines of perforations or slits in the

outwardly facing side to thereby form longitudinal tear lines which define the tear strip.

At one end of the strip, there may be a tab which is not sealed to the foil layer.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the line of weakening defining

the tab may extend into the paperboard for a depth of preferably between 10 and 40% of

the thickness of the paperboard and more preferably, approximately 30% of the thickness.

Where the tab joins the tear strip, there is preferably a cut from the inner facing

side of the paperboard which extends between 60 and 90% of the thickness of the

paperboard.

In the above described embodiment, there is also provided a line of weakening

which is cut into the paperboard from the inner side thereof at the position where the

capsule will be ejected from the blister pocket. This line of weakening assists in

dispensing of the product and may extend into the paperboard for a distance of between 10

and 40% of the thickness thereof.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Having thus generally described the invention, reference will be made to the

accompanying drawings illustrating embodiments thereof, in which :

Figure 1 is an exploded view illustrating the various components of a package

according to one embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view along the lines 2-2 of Figure 1 when the package

is assembled;

Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 2 illustrating partial opening of the package by

delamination of the tear strip;

Figure 4 is a view similar to Figures 2 and 3 illustrating the final step in the

dispensing of the capsule from the package; and

Figure 5 is perspective view illustrating the first step of Figure 3 in opening the

package.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring to the drawings in a greater detail and by reference characters thereto,

there is illustrated in Figure 1 an exploded view of a first embodiment of the present

invention. In this embodiment, there is provided a blister layer 10 which has a plurality of

blister pockets 12 formed therein in a conventional manner.

Designed to be placed on top of a blister layer 10 is an optional data layer 14. Data

layer 14 has cut-outs to receive the blister pockets and may carry pertinent information

thereon. To this end, data layer 14 is generally of a paper or paperboard material.

Secured to the underside of blister layer 10 is a rupturable foil layer 16. Such

rupturable foil layers are well known in the art.

A paperboard reinforcing layer 18 is secured to rupturable foil layer 16 by means of

a conventional adhesive 17. Paperboard layer 18 has a first side which lies adjacent to

rupturable foil layer 16 and a second exteriorly facing side.

As is know in the art, tear strips 24 are formed in paperboard layer 18 as described

in greater detail herein below. Tear strips 24 each individually overly one of the blister

pockets 12 and are defined by a traditional line of weakening.

Associated with each tear strip 24 is a tab 26. Tabs 26 are not sealed to foil layer

16 and, as may be seen in Figures 2 to 4, each tab 26 is defined by a slit 28 which extends

completely through paperboard layer 18. However, at the point where tab 26 meets tear

strip 24, there is provided a further slit 32 extending from first side 20 and extending for a

depth of approximately 70% of the thickness of the paperboard layer 18.

There is also provided a slit 30 at the distal end of tear strip 24. A partial cut 32, as

may be seen in Figures 2 through 4, extends through first side 20 of paperboard layer 18.

However, partial cut 32 extends to a depth substantially less than that of slit 32 for reasons

which will become apparent hereinbelow. Typically, partial cut 30 may extend into

paperboard layer a distance approximately equal to 30% of the thickness of paperboard

layer 18.

In order to provide access to capsule 40 which is contained in blister pocket 12, tab

26 is lifted as indicated by arrow 38 in Figure 3. As the continued lifting motion is

applied, an upper approximately 30% of paperboard layer 18 will tend to delaminate. The

extent of the delamination can be controlled by the depth of slit 32. After removing

approximately 30% of paperboard layer 18, there will remain 70% of the paperboard

layer. However, where partial cut 32 is located, there will be only 40% of the paperboard

layer thus permitting easier exit of capsule 40 when pressure is applied to blister pockets

12 indicated by arrow 42.