U.S. patent application number 11/791256 was filed with the patent office on 2008-05-22 for primary packaging unit for flat administration forms.
Invention is credited to Ingo Lehrke, Stephan Maier, Ulrike Vollmer.
Application Number | 20080116104 11/791256 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 35655531 |
Filed Date | 2008-05-22 |
United States Patent
Application |
20080116104 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Lehrke; Ingo ; et
al. |
May 22, 2008 |
Primary Packaging Unit for Flat Administration Forms
Abstract
A card-shaped primary packaging unit for a plurality of flat
administration forms containing active substances comprises a
central web (1) made of a rigid packaging material, a top web (2)
made of a thin film, a bottom web (2) made of a thin film, and a
plurality of dosage units (4) which remain individually packaged
even one of the administration forms (4) is removed from the
packaging unit.
Inventors: |
Lehrke; Ingo; (Koln, DE)
; Vollmer; Ulrike; (Dormagen, DE) ; Maier;
Stephan; (Leverkusen, DE) |
Correspondence
Address: |
Arnall Golden Gregory
171 17th Street NW, Suite 2100
Atlanta
GA
30363
US
|
Family ID: |
35655531 |
Appl. No.: |
11/791256 |
Filed: |
November 9, 2005 |
PCT Filed: |
November 9, 2005 |
PCT NO: |
PCT/DE05/02006 |
371 Date: |
November 5, 2007 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
206/531 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B65D 75/30 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
206/531 |
International
Class: |
B65D 85/42 20060101
B65D085/42; B65D 83/04 20060101 B65D083/04 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Nov 23, 2004 |
DE |
10 2004 056 576.7 |
Claims
1) Primary packaging unit for flat forms of administration with
active ingredients, with a section of a middle sheet of packaging
material each and with in each case one or several sections of an
upper and a lower sheet of packaging material, characterized in
that a) the middle sheet of packaging material is rigid and
represents the base of the card, b) the upper sheet of packaging
material represents a thin film with good water vapor barrier
properties, c) the lower sheet of packaging material represents a
thin film with good water vapor barrier properties and d) several
dose units, together with the individual components of the card,
are combined by sealing or gluing into a unit on an in-line
packaging machine in such a manner that the flat forms of
administration remain packaged individually, even if one of the
forms of administration is removed.
2) The primary packaging unit of claim 1, characterized in that the
dimensions of the primary packaging unit correspond to those of a
standard credit card.
3) (canceled)
4) The primary packaging unit of claim 1, characterized in that the
primary packaging unit has dimensions other than 85.times.55 mm
and, moreover, contains 2-10 flat forms of administration per
side.
5) (canceled)
6) (canceled)
7) (canceled)
8) (canceled)
9) (canceled)
10) (canceled)
11) (canceled)
12) (canceled)
13) (canceled)
14) (canceled)
15) (canceled)
16) (canceled)
17) (canceled)
18) (canceled)
19) (canceled)
20) (canceled)
21) (canceled)
22) (canceled)
Description
[0001] The present invention relates to a primary packaging unit
for flat forms of administration with active ingredients. In
particular, it relates to a primary packaging unit in card form,
which is formed by a varying number of flat forms of
administration, which are to be packaged, a section of a rigid
sheet of packaging material, on which the individual flat forms of
administration are applied on both sides and form each case one or
more sections of a thin upper and lower sheet of packaging
material.
[0002] Within the meaning of this application, examples of flat
forms of administration are, for instance, cosmetic, medicinal or
active ingredient-containing band-aids, such as a wart band-aids,
insect bite band-aids or nail band-aids, muco-adhesive band-aids or
oral mouth films.
[0003] The latter are thin films or platelets for an oral
application, which dissolve upon contact with saliva. For this
reason, no beverage is required when these mouth films are
ingested. This form of medicinal drug is therefore particularly
suitable when traveling or for activities or situations, when it is
desirable to be able to take the medication quickly and
conveniently without a liquid.
[0004] The fact that these forms of administration offer rapid
help, especially when away from home, for example, when traveling,
is a property, which is to be emphasized and is a common feature of
all forms of administration, which come under the heading of flat
forms of administration within the meaning of this application.
Ideally, these forms of administration can be carried along
conveniently and unobtrusively ready, as well as at hand, at all
times on the person of the user, for example, in a money purse or
in a shirt pocket or trouser pocket.
[0005] Nevertheless, since the form of administration may be a
medicinal drug, each dose must be packaged individually.
[0006] Moreover, because of the special ratio of thickness to area
of said forms of administration, a thin, flat packaging suggests
itself.
[0007] A start for solving the problem of creating such a primary
packaging unit is found in the DE 298 23 463 U1. Nevertheless, this
application, although it describes the prior art that comes closest
to the present invention, does not fulfill all the requirements,
which must be met by a primary packaging unit, which is intended
for and therefore particularly suitable for the purpose described
above.
[0008] On the one hand, the primary packaging unit proposed there
consists only of one section of an upper and a lower sheet of a
packaging material, so that the area of the primary packaging unit,
which is available, is used only on one side. As a result, in
comparison to the invention described here, twice the area of the
primary packaging unit is required for the same size of the
individually packaged, flat forms of administration. If a
meaningful number of individual doses of flat forms of
administration of a particularly preferred size of 4-7 cm.sup.2 are
to be carried along, this leads to a package unit, which is so
large, that it can no longer be carried conveniently on the person
of the user without bending or buckling, which could cause the
integrity of the packaging and, with that, of the form of
administration to be lost.
[0009] Moreover, the perforations, which are provided in the DE 298
23 463 U1 between the compartments, in which the individual forms
of administration are located, and which enable the individual
compartments to be detached when required, prove to be unsuitable
for the purpose, on which this invention is based. Due to the
perforations, the stiffness of the primary packaging unit
inevitably is lost, so that, especially under a mechanical stress,
the bending and pulling apart into the individual compartments,
which have already been described previously, easily come about, so
that it is no longer possible to carry this packaging unit along
loosely.
[0010] Furthermore, it is regarded as rather impractical, if
individual compartments of the primary packaging unit can be
detached since, as a result, there is no active control over the
individual doses already used. For example, in the case of a
medical drug, which is to be used no more than three times daily,
it is difficult to determine how many individual doses have already
been used during a day, if it is possible to detach only one or two
such compartments and to carry them along.
[0011] It is therefore an object of the present invention to create
a primary packaging unit for flat forms of administration with
active ingredients, which satisfies all the aforementioned
requirements, without having the disadvantages described.
[0012] This objective is accomplished by making available a primary
packaging unit for flat forms of administration (FIG. 2, 4) with a
section of a rigid packaging material middle sheet (FIG. 2, 1) and
with, in each case one or more sections of a flexible packaging
material upper and lower sheet (FIG. 2, 2), which is characterized
in that the rigid middle sheet of packaging material, on either
side of which a variable number of flat forms of administration may
be applied (FIG. 2b), may be combined, by sealing or gluing, on the
one side with one or more sections of a flexible sheet of packaging
material and, on the opposite side with one or more sections of a
flexible sheet of packaging material into a unit in such a manner,
that a stable, yet flexible card, which is not more than 1 mm
thick, is obtained, for which the flat forms of administration are
and remain packaged individually, even if one of the several forms
of administration is removed, without the card having perforations
between the individually packaged forms of administration.
[0013] This combination of distinguishing features is necessary, in
order to arrive at the required, practicable primary packaging unit
in a card format, which is referred to in the following as
Rapidcard.
[0014] In principle, a Rapidcard of any convenient size is
possible. However, an embodiment, which corresponds in its
dimensions to a credit card, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, is
particularly preferred. These standard dimensions enable the
Rapidcard to be carried conveniently in the breast pocket of a
shirt, the back pocket of trousers or in the money purse.
[0015] In a preferred embodiment of the credit card format, a
variation is a specialty preferred, for which 2-10 flat forms of
administration, having an area of 2-10 cm.sup.2 and preferably 3
flat forms of administration, having an area of 4-7 cm.sup.2, can
be packaged on each side of the card.
[0016] An inventive example of a variation with 6 rectangular flat
forms of administration having an area of 6 cm.sup.2 is given in
FIGS. 1 and 2 and described in greater detail in the following,
without thereby limiting the already listed possible variations in
any way.
[0017] The Rapidcard is characterized in that 6 rectangular flat
forms of administration, having an area of 6 cm.sup.2, are applied
on a sealable, flat, stiff middle sheet of packaging material,
having a maximum thickness of 0.6 mm (FIG. 3, referred to, in the
following, as carrier sheet), for example, of PE, PP, PVC, PETG,
PETGAG, COC or multilayer laminates, such as PE/paper/PE, PE/PVC/PE
etc.
[0018] Moreover, in each case 3 forms of administration are applied
on the front side as well as on the back side of the carrier sheet
in such a way, that they do not mutually touch one another and that
there is sufficient distance between them, in order to enclose
completely each form of administration individually by sealing or
gluing it onto one or more sections of a flexible upper or lower
sheet of packaging material and, with that, protect it against
external influences (compare FIG. 2b).
[0019] A flat, thin material, which has a maximum thickness of 0.2
mm and represents a barrier for the moisture and oxygen of the air
(FIG. 2, 2 and FIG. 4, referred to in the following as protective
film) is used as the upper and lower sheet of packaging material
respectively. After the sealing or gluing, this material must have
the property of peelability, that is, after one or several sections
of this protective film have been sealed or glued onto the rigid
carrier sheet, it must be possible to pull it off again from the
carrier sheet at a later time with little expenditure of force, in
order to remove the corresponding form of administration. For this
purpose, film-like materials with different barrier properties come
into consideration, depending on the properties of the forms of
administration, which are to be packaged. For example, a
transparent film having barrier properties with respect to the
humidity of the air, such as PE/PCTFE/PE, can be used if the
product is to be seen and there is no light sensitivity. In order
to be a sufficient barrier for water vapor, the PCTFE must have a
minimum sickness of 50 .mu.m.
[0020] If the product is light sensitive, a film can be used, which
is colored or coated or contains an aluminum layer and by means of
which, aside from protection against life, there is also protection
against moisture and oxygen from the air.
[0021] The 3 flat forms of administration on each side of the
carrier sheet are now sealed with the protective film or the latter
is glued on in such a manner, that each form of administration is
enclosed completely, on all sides, and sealed from its environment,
without parts of the form of administration being enclosed in the
sealing seam or adhesion surface (FIG. 2, 3) between the carrier
sheet and the protective film. In FIG. 5, the adhesion or sealing
surfaces are shown in a red.
[0022] The machine parameters during the sealing or gluing process,
as well as the width of the sealing seam or adhesion surface,
obtained during the corresponding process, are selected so that the
product is protected efficiently against external,
stability-affecting factors for the period of the shelf life that
has been determined and that nevertheless, at a later time, a
simple opening of the sealing seam or of the adhesion surface for
removal is possible.
[0023] Unless this is already possible due to the nature of the
sealing or adhesion process, the section or sections of the
protective film are to be processed furthermore in such a manner,
that it is possible to open the sealing seam or adhesion surface of
only one individual form of administration and to remove the
latter, without thereby opening or damaging the protective
packaging of a neighboring form of administration. This can be
achieved, for example, owing to the fact that the protective film
has a notch between the individual forms of administration (FIG. 2,
5).
[0024] Moreover, the protective film may be configured so that it
has a tear-open tab for each individual form of administration in
order to simplify the opening process (FIG. 2, 2). Such a tab
represents part of the protective film, which is in direct contact
with the individually packaged form of administration, but is not
connected with the carrier sheet by sealing, adhesion or other
measures and, instead, rests loosely on the carrier sheet. By
lifting this tap and pulling in the direction of the lower edge of
the card, the sealing seam or adhesion surface of the corresponding
region of the card can be opened and the flat form of
administration removed. Instead of a tear-open tab, a predetermined
breaking point may also be provided here.
[0025] The carrier sheet, as well as the protective films may, if
required, be printed with information (FIG. 1).
* * * * *