U.S. patent application number 10/582583 was filed with the patent office on 2007-10-04 for blister packs.
This patent application is currently assigned to 3Point Blue Limited. Invention is credited to Jonathan Bobbett, Jonathan Neal.
Application Number | 20070227932 10/582583 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 34680439 |
Filed Date | 2007-10-04 |
United States Patent
Application |
20070227932 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Bobbett; Jonathan ; et
al. |
October 4, 2007 |
Blister Packs
Abstract
The present invention relates to a medicament retaining sheet
(14) for a medicament blister pack. In particular, it relates to a
medicament retaining sheet which makes it more difficult for a
child to release a medicament from the blister pack without making
it unduly difficult for the elderly or infirm to remove the
medicament. We describe a medicament blister pack retaining sheet
(14) comprising at least one sheet (20) having points of weakness
(23, 24) defining medicament release zones.
Inventors: |
Bobbett; Jonathan; (Kent,
GB) ; Neal; Jonathan; (Kent, GB) |
Correspondence
Address: |
Brian J. Hairston;Connolly Bove Lodge & Hutz
1990 M Street, N.W. Suite 800
Washington
DC
20036
US
|
Assignee: |
3Point Blue Limited
5 Century Place Lamberts Road, Tunbridge Wells
Kent
GB
TN2 3EH
|
Family ID: |
34680439 |
Appl. No.: |
10/582583 |
Filed: |
December 9, 2004 |
PCT Filed: |
December 9, 2004 |
PCT NO: |
PCT/GB04/50036 |
371 Date: |
March 28, 2007 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
206/532 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B65D 2575/3236 20130101;
B65D 2215/04 20130101; B65D 75/327 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
206/532 |
International
Class: |
B65D 83/04 20060101
B65D083/04 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Dec 10, 2003 |
GB |
0328614.3 |
Apr 30, 2004 |
GB |
0409717.6 |
Claims
1. A medicament retaining sheet for a medicament blister pack, said
sheet comprising a first sheet having first and second faces and a
second sheet having first and second faces, wherein the first face
of the second sheet and the second face of the first sheet are
opposed and bonded together and wherein the first sheet includes
lines of weakness defining a plurality medicament release
zones.
2. A medicament retaining sheet as claimed in claim 1 wherein the
lines of weakness defining medicament release zones comprise a
plurality of perforations and/or slits.
3. A medicament retaining sheet as claimed in claim 2 wherein the
lines of weakness are formed in the first face of the first
sheet.
4. A medicament retaining sheet as claimed in claim 1 wherein the
lines of weakness extend from the first face of the first sheet,
through the first sheet and to the second face of said first sheet
in at least a portion of each individual medicament release
zone.
5. A medicament retaining sheet as claimed in claim 1, wherein said
medicament retaining sheet comprises a laminate.
6. A medicament retaining sheet as claimed in claim 1 wherein at
least portions of the second face of the second sheet are provided
with a permanent adhesive.
7. A medicament retaining sheet as claimed in claim 5 wherein the
second face of the second sheet is fully coated with a permanent
adhesive.
8. A medicament retaining sheet as claimed in claim 5 wherein the
second face of the second sheet is provided with no permanent
adhesive in the medicament release zones.
9. A medicament retaining sheet as claimed in claim 1 wherein the
second sheet is formed from a metal foil or a metallized plastics
material.
10. A medicament retaining sheet as claimed in claim 1 wherein the
first sheet is formed from a paper material.
11. A medicament retaining sheet as claimed in claim 1, wherein the
medicament retaining sheet is for use in the manufacture of a
medicament blister pack.
12. The use of a medicament retaining sheet according to claim 1 in
the manufacture of a medicament blister pack.
13. A medicament blister pack comprising a medicament retaining
sheet according to claim 1.
14. A blister pack as claimed in claim 13 wherein the medicament
tray comprises a molded plastics or metallised metallized tray
including a plurality of medicament cavities.
15. A label for a medicament blister pack comprising a medicament
tray having a plurality of molded cavities or recesses each
containing a medicant in the form of a capsule or tablet, said
capsules or tablets being held in place by means of a retaining
sheet, wherein said label has a first and second faces, said first
face having an adhesive applied thereto and wherein said label
includes lines of weakness defining a plurality of medicament
release zones.
16. A label as claimed in claim 15 wherein the lines of weakness
defining medicament release zones comprise a plurality of
perforations and/or slits.
17. A label as claimed in claim 15 wherein the lines of weakness
extend from the upper surface, through the label, to the lower
surface of said label in at least a portion of each individual
medicament release zone.
18. A label as claimed in claim 15 wherein the lines of weakness
are formed in the second face of the label.
19. A label as claimed in claim 15 wherein at least portions of the
second face of the second sheet are provided with a permanent
adhesive.
20. A label as claimed in claim 19 wherein no adhesive is applied
to the first face in the medicament release zones.
21. A label as claimed in claim 15 wherein the first face is fully
coated with a permanent adhesive.
22. A label as claimed in claim 15 wherein the label is formed from
a paper material.
Description
[0001] The present invention relates to improvements in or relating
to blister packs. In particular, it relates to an improvement in
blister packs which makes it more difficult for a child to release
a medicament from the blister pack without making it unduly
difficult for the elderly or infirm to remove the medicament.
[0002] Conventional blister cards or packs typically include a
plastics sheet material moulded to provide a plurality of recesses
into each of which recesses is placed a medicament, typically in
tablet or capsule form. The medicaments are held in place by means
of a foil retaining sheet. When the patient wishes to use the
medicament, they push the tablet or capsule through the foil
retaining sheet. For ease of release, the foil retaining sheet is
usually rather thin and easily ruptured. This raises issues of
child safety, as it becomes very easy for a child to tamper with
the blister pack, so releasing the medication. One approach to
improving the child-resistance of a blister pack is to increase the
thickness of the foil in order to require greater strength in order
to push the medicament through the foil retaining sheet. However,
one needs to be careful to avoid producing a blister pack from
which elderly or infirm might find it impossible to gain access to
their medicament.
[0003] Accordingly, there is a need to provide a blister pack that
provides resistance to tampering by children but allows the elderly
or infirm to release their medicament without undue difficulty. WO
02/32666 describes one approach in which a first sheet material is
attached to the foil of a conventional blister pack by a temporary
adhesive. The first sheet covers all of the individual medicament
recesses, but is itself of smaller overall dimensions than the
blister pack itself. Overlaying the first sheet is a second sheet
material. This is provided with a permanent adhesive and is larger
than the first sheet material such that where it overlies the first
sheet, it is adhered thereto by the permanent adhesive, but where
it does not overlie the first sheet, it adheres by the permanent
adhesive to the foil retaining sheet of the blister pack. The
second sheet is perforated or scored in the area around where it
overlies each medicament recess. The user peels off a portion of
the second sheet adjacent the location of a medicament. The
perforations ensure selective removal only of that part adjacent
the chosen medicament and the use of a permanent adhesive provides
that a respective portion of the first sheet material is also
removed. The user can then press the medicament through the foil
layer as usual.
[0004] However, the arrangement of WO 02/32666 requires careful
cutting and assembly of the components. The present invention seeks
to provide an alternative blister pack arrangement.
[0005] In its broadest sense, in one aspect the present invention
provides a medicament blister pack comprising a medicament tray
having an upper surface to which is bonded a medicament retaining
sheet. The medicament retaining sheet comprises a laminate
comprising bonded first and second sheet materials.
[0006] Preferably, the medicament tray comprises a moulded plastics
or metarised tray having a plurality of individual medicament
receiving cavities. Suitably, the tray is formed by vacuum
moulding.
[0007] Preferably, the first sheet material includes lines of
weakness defining medicament release zones, or includes a random or
structured pattern of lines of weakness having a substantially
uniform distribution over the first sheet material.
[0008] Typically, the lines of weakness defining medicament release
zones comprise perforations and/or slits. Suitably, the lines of
weakness are formed by kiss-cutting or laser-cutting.
[0009] In a second aspect the present invention provides a
medicament retaining sheet for a medicament blister pack, the
retaining sheet comprising a laminate comprising bonded first and
second sheet materials; said first sheet having first and second
faces and said second sheet having first and second faces, wherein
the first face of the second sheet and the second face of the first
sheet are opposed and bonded together and wherein the first sheet
includes lines of weakness defining medicament release zones.
[0010] In a third aspect, the present invention provides the use of
a laminate comprising bonded first and second sheets as a
medicament retaining sheet in a blister pack, wherein the first
sheet includes lines of weakness defining medicament release
zones.
[0011] The first sheet may be formed from any suitable material
such as metal foil, metalised plastics, plastics, materials or
paper. Preferably, the first sheet is a paper material. Suitably
the paper material is a machine-coated or blade-coated paper.
[0012] Preferably, the first sheet has a weight of from 15 to 100
g/m.sup.2; more preferably from 20 to 50 g/m.sup.2; even more
preferably about 30 g/m.sup.2.
[0013] Preferably, the first sheet has a thickness of from 15 to
120 .mu.m; more preferably from 20 to 60 .mu.m; even more
preferably about 30 .mu.m.
[0014] Preferably, the first sheet has first and second faces and
lines of weakness may be formed partially in either the upper or
lower surface or may extend from the first face through the sheet
to the second face. Typically, the lines of weakness comprise
perforations, slits or score lines, formed by kiss-cutting or
laser-cutting.
[0015] Preferably, the second sheet material is a metal foil or a
metalised plastics sheet.
[0016] Preferably, the foil sheet is from 6 to 50 .mu.m in
thickness.
[0017] Suitably, the first sheet material is bonded to the second
sheet material by means of an adhesive, preferably a permanent
adhesive.
[0018] Advantageously, no adhesive is provided, or the adhesive is
inactivated, between the first and second sheet materials in the
medicament release zones.
[0019] In a fourth aspect, the present invention provides a first
sheet material adapted for application to a medicament blister pack
comprising a medicament tray having an upper surface to which is
bonded a second sheet material.
[0020] Suitably, the first sheet is a printable material, such as
paper or a synthetic material. Suitably the paper material is a
machine-coated or blade-coated paper. Preferably, the paper has a
weight of 20 g/m.sup.2 or more, more preferably from 50 to 400
g/m.sup.2; even more preferably from 50 to 200 g/m.sup.2, most
preferably from 50 to 150 g/m.sup.2. Advantageously, the paper has
a weight of from 50 to 120 g/m.sup.2, suitably about 80 to about 85
g/m.sup.2.
[0021] The first sheet has first and second faces and lines of
weakness may be formed partially in either the upper or lower
surface or may extend from the first face through the sheet to the
second face. Typically, the lines of weakness comprise
perforations, slits or score lines, formed by kiss-cutting or
laser-cutting.
[0022] The above and other aspects of the present invention will
now be illustrated in further detail, by way of example only, with
reference to the accompanying figures in which:
[0023] FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view of an embodiment of a
blister pack in accordance with the present invention;
[0024] FIG. 2 is a plan view of the embodiment of FIG. 1; and
[0025] FIGS. 3a-d are plan views of suitable alternative
arrangements for points of weakness for embodiments of the present
invention;
[0026] Referring to the figures, there is shown a blister pack 10
comprising a moulded plastics tray 11 including a plurality of
moulded cavities or recesses 12 each containing a medicament in the
form of a capsule or tablet 13. The tablets are held in place by
means of a medicament retaining sheet 14. Retaining sheet 14 is
adhered to tray 11 by means of an adhesive 15.
[0027] Medicament retaining sheet 14 is a laminate comprising
bonded first 20 and second 21 sheet materials. Suitably, the first
sheet material 20 is a paper material. Suitably, the second sheet
material 21 is a sheet material of the type conventionally used in
the production of blister packs. For example, the second sheet
material 21 may be a thin metallic foil or a metalised plastics
sheet material.
[0028] The medicament retaining sheet 14 is adhered to the tray 11
by adhesive 15 contacting second sheet material 21. The adhesive 15
may be applied to the retaining sheet 14 or directly to the tray
11, for example by roller-coating.
[0029] The medicament retaining sheet 14 may be applied to the tray
11 during the manufacturing process. Alternatively, the first sheet
material may be applied as a label to a pre-formed blister pack,
for example, by an end user. The label may include an adhesive
surface for application to the foil of the blister pack. This forms
another aspect of the present invention.
[0030] FIG. 2 exemplifies a preferred formation of lines of
weakness defining medicament release zones, of particular advantage
in the embodiment described above, where there is an absence of
adhesive in said zones. In this preferred embodiment, medicament
release zones 22 are defined by lines of weakness comprising a cut
or slit 23 at one end of each zone 22 with perforations 24 for
completing the lines of weakness. With such an arrangement, it is
easy for a user to rupture the medicament retaining sheet 14 at the
end having slit 23 by pushing the tablet 13 at that end. The
remainder of the first sheet material of the medicament release
zone may then be peeled back.
[0031] FIG. 3 shows, in views (a) to (e), a number of exemplary
designs of points of weakness formed in labels and medicament
retaining sheets of the present invention. The points take the form
of simple regions of slits, as exemplified in FIGS. 3a & 3b in
which lines of slits transverse the sheet horizontally and
diagonally, respectively. Alternatively, the points comprise
combinations of intersecting perpendicular lines of slits which
transverse the sheet longitudinally and latitudinally, as
illustrated in FIG. 3c. In further alternative embodiments the
intersecting lines are arranged diagonally (not shown). The points
of weakness may alternatively take the form of repeating patterns
such as crosses (FIG. 3d). It will be appreciated that the lines of
slits can be formed from uniformly sized slits as illustrated in
FIGS. 3a to d, but may also be formed from slits of different
lengths as exemplified in FIG. 3e in which lines comprising slits
of a first length perpendicularly intersect lines of slits of a
second, different, length. Other arrangements will be immediately
apparent to the skilled person. As shown, the distribution of
points of weakness is uniform and regular. In alternative
embodiments, the distribution may be irregular or random.
* * * * *