PUSH AND PEEL PACK FOR DISPENSING MEDICANTS

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 combination punch out of the inner card hole or

push on the existing hole to release the lead area of the tab on the outer layer and with a full

delamination feature tear strip for unsupported foil and a periphery delamination feature for

paper.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Blister packs are well known 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.

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 reproductible. This child resistant push tab feature was also invented for

the purpose of adding electronic printed circuitry to the packaging. When electronic

circuitry is bent, the circuitry can break and render the circuitry useless.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

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

tamper evident, senior friendly, child resistant and capable of adding electronic circuitry.

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, a tear strip formed

in the reinforcing layer, the tear strip overlying the at least one blister pocket, a tab formed at

one end of the tear strip, the tab being non adhered to the foil layer, and a data layer

overlying the blister sheet on the front side thereof, the data layer having at least one diecut

portion formed therein, the at least one diecut portion being in registry with the tab such that

pressure on the at least one diecut portion will permit the tab member to be lifted and the

tear strip removed.

In a further 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 blister 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, the

paperboard layer having a tear strip formed therein, a tab member being located at one end

of the tear strip, a data layer overlying the front side of the blister sheet, at least one diecut

portion formed in the front data layer, the blister layer having a diecut formed therein, both

the diecut portion and the diecut formed in the blister sheet being in registry with the tab

member such that pressure applied on said diecut portion will cause the tab member to lift

and permit removal of the tear strip.

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 of the paperboard 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 embodiment of the present invention, the tear strip may be defined by a

partial cut through a portion of the paperboard. In this embodiment, the paperboard would

be adhered to the foil layer and once the tab is pulled, a controlled delamination of the

paperboard within the tear strip will occur. This will leave a portion of the paperboard still

adhered to the foil to provide a further reinforcement and add effectiveness in its ability to

prevent children from accessing the product.

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

blister cavity over the foil in the area of the 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

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 unsupported aluminum material having a thickness in the range of 1 mil and support foils

having a thickness of 1 mil with 15 lbs of tissue paper laminated to the foil 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 as 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/paper layer.

In those applications wherein only unsupported foil is utilized, the foil overlying the

cavity containing the product is sealed to the tab, but not the lead area of the tab. In this

particular embodiment of the present invention, the line of weakening defining the tab may

extend into the paperboard for a depth of preferably between 60 and 80% of the thickness of

the paperboard and more preferably, approximately 50% of the thickness at the tab score

line.

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

of the paperboard which extends approximately 50% of the thickness of the paperboard

depending on the solidity of the product to be dispensed.

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 60 and 80% of the

thickness thereof depending on the product to be dispensed. Note the shape of the line of

weakening can be changed to suit the product. Thus, the shape of the line weakening or

diecut could either be straight or oval in the precise form of the tablet or pill. The amount of

cutting and the configuration can control the effort required to access the product.

In one embodiment of the present invention, there may be provided a blister layer

having a diecut formed therein. The diecut portion is again in registry with the tab member

such that pressure applied on the diecut portion would cause the tab member to lift and

thereby permit removal of the tear strip. This embodiment is useful wherein there is a

plurality of rows formed in a package. The outer rows could be formed in the manner

originally described — i.e. wherein the data layer alone has a diecut portion in registry with

the tab. However, with respect with the inner rows, since the blister sheet is continuous, the

diecut portion in the blister layer is required.

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;

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

package;

Figure 6 is an exploded view illustrating a further embodiment of the present

invention;

Figure 7 is a cross sectional view along the lines 7-7 of Figure 6;

Figure 8 is a view similar to Figure 7 illustrating partial opening of the package by

delamination of the tear strip;

Figure 9 is a further cross sectional view illustrating the final step in dispensing of the

capsule from the package;

Figure 10 is a perspective view illustrating the first step shown in Figure 8 in opening

the package; and

Figure 1 1 is a perspective partially exploded view of a package according to one

embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

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

is illustrated in Figure 6 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 a data layer 14. Data layer 14

that may carry pertinent information has cut-outs to receive the blister pockets and diecut

perforated ovals 11 formed therein. To this end, data layer 14 is generally of a 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. Paperboard layer 18 has a first side which lies adjacent to rupturable

foil layer 16 and a second exteriorly facing side.

As is known 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 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 the above described embodiment, diecut perforated ovals 1 1 are in registry with

tab 26 while blister layer 10 and foil layer 16 only fall within tear strip 24. Thus, in order to

provide access to capsule 40 which is contained in blister pocket 12, diecut oval 1 1 is

pushed and this will cause tab 26 to lift fromwhere it may be removed as shown in Figure 8.

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.

Referring to the embodiment of Figures 1 to 5, many similar components are

illustrated and similar reference numerals are employed for such components, the reference

numerals being in the 100.

Thus, there is illustrated a blister layer 1 10 which has a plurality of blister

pockets 1 12 formed therein in a conventional manner. A data layer 114 which may carry

pertinent information has cutouts to receive the blister pockets 1 12. Also formed in blister

layer 1 10 are a plurality of U shaped cuts 1 15. A similar U-shaped cut 1 13 is provided in

foil layer 116. In this embodiment, diecut perforated ovals 11 1 and U-shaped cuts 115 and

1 13 are in registry with tab 126.

The arrangement is similar to the previously described embodiment with the

exception that U shaped cuts 115 permit the lifting of the tab portion by application of

pressure through diecut perforator holes 111. Thus, one is able to then grip the tab portion

126 and perform the operation as previously described.

Reference will be now be had to Figure 11 which illustrates a pack which utilizes

both the embodiments of Figures 1 to 5 and Figures 6 to 10. As shown, there is provided a

child resistant package 210 having first and second panels 212 and 214. Panels 212 and 214

may be folded onto each other and a cover panel 216 over the same. Naturally, securement

means or the like may be provided.

As shown by dotted lines 218, there is provided a blister layer as is known in the art.

Blister layer 218 is also illustrated in an exploded view with respect to panel 214. Blister

layer 218 includes a plurality of blister pockets 220 which on the under side (not shown) are

provided with a foil layer. A plurality of outer pockets 220 are arranged such that a plurality

of push through diecut ovals 222 extend about the periphery of the foil layer. On the under

side, there are provided tear strips 224 with tabs 226.

There are also provided a plurality of center blister pockets 228 which have the diecut

oval 230 formed in the data layer. In this arrangement, the blister layer will contain a

plurality of generally U-shaped cuts therethrough as shown in the embodiment Figures 1

to 5. Thus, a combination of the two arrangements may be used.

With respect to the use of the perforated diecut ovals 1 1, it will be understood that if

desired the ovals might be completely removed at the time of diecutting. This would

provide access to the tab line and registry therewith.

It will be understood that the above described embodiments are for purposes of

illustration only and changes and modifications may be made thereto without departing from

the spirit and scope of the invention.