U.S. patent application number 12/126135 was filed with the patent office on 2009-11-26 for child resistant blister packaging.
This patent application is currently assigned to Alcan Global Pharmaceutical Packaging, Inc.. Invention is credited to Jean Andre Prud'Homme.
Application Number | 20090288978 12/126135 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 41341296 |
Filed Date | 2009-11-26 |
United States Patent
Application |
20090288978 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Prud'Homme; Jean Andre |
November 26, 2009 |
CHILD RESISTANT BLISTER PACKAGING
Abstract
A child resistant card for dispensing pills, e.g., capsules
and/or tablets, that renders access to the pills difficult for a
child but not for an adult. The child resistant blister card
enables the user to access the item disposed within the card after
performing a series of steps. The blister card is received in a
protective envelope. A weakened area in the front panel of the
envelope can be depressed to release a tear tab in the back panel.
Once released, the tear tab can be ripped from the back panel to
expose the backing foil of the blister card.
Inventors: |
Prud'Homme; Jean Andre;
(Pincourt, CA) |
Correspondence
Address: |
BANNER & WITCOFF, LTD.
28 STATE STREET, SUITE 1800
BOSTON
MA
02109-9601
US
|
Assignee: |
Alcan Global Pharmaceutical
Packaging, Inc.
Pennsauken
NJ
|
Family ID: |
41341296 |
Appl. No.: |
12/126135 |
Filed: |
May 23, 2008 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
206/532 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B65D 83/0463 20130101;
B65D 2215/04 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
206/532 |
International
Class: |
B65D 83/04 20060101
B65D083/04 |
Claims
1. A child resistant blister card assembly comprising: a blister
card having a blister cavity for holding one item to be dispensed,
and a foil sealing the item in the blister cavity; a protective
envelope in which the blister card is retained captive, the
protective envelope having a front panel and a back panel, the
blister card being received between the front panel and the back
panel with the blister cavity of the blister card projecting
outwardly through a blister hole defined in the front panel; a
front weakened area defined in the front panel and the blister card
adjacent to the blister cavity; and a tear tab defined in the back
panel and underlying the first weakened area and the blister
cavity, the tear tab, when in place, providing resistance to
prevent the item from being pushed through the foil of the blister
card, the tear tab being held in a non-accessible position to
prevent a person from grasping and pulling on the tear tab; wherein
the tear tab is released from said non-accessible position thereof
by applying a sufficient pressure on the front weakened area to
depress the front weakened area and cause detachment of a portion
of the tear tab from the back panel, thereby providing a grasp by
which the tear tab can then be peeled back to expose the foil.
2. The child resistant blister card assembly according to claim 1,
wherein the tear tab is spaced from a periphery of the back
panel.
3. The child resistant blister card assembly according to claim 2,
wherein the tear tab is confined within a central region in the
back panel.
4. The child resistant blister card assembly according to claim 2,
wherein the front panel is adhesively secured to the rear panel in
a margin area surrounding the blister card.
5. The child resistant blister card assembly according to claim 1,
wherein the blister card has corner projections extending through
corresponding holes defined in the front panel.
6. The child resistant blister card assembly according to claim 1,
wherein the front weakened area includes a score line defined both
through the front panel and the blister card.
7. A child resistant blister card assembly comprising: a blister
card including a container sheet defining at least one blister
container for receiving an item to be dispensed, and a backing foil
sealing the item in the blister container; a back panel at least
partly covering said backing foil, the back panel having a closure
held in a closed position in which the closure prevents the item
from being push through the backing foil; and a releaser provided
on a front face of said blister card and being adapted to transfer
a pressure to said closure so as to release the closure from said
closed position thereof, thereby allowing subsequent displacement
of the closure from the closed position to an open position in
which the backing foil is exposed such as to allow the item to be
pushed through the backing foil.
8. The child resistant blister card assembly according to claim 7,
wherein the releaser comprises a weakened area defined in the
blister card adjacent to said blister container.
9. The child resistant blister card assembly according to claim 8,
wherein the weakened area comprises a score line defined into the
blister card.
10. The child resistant blister card assembly according to claim 9,
wherein the closure overlies the score line of the weakened
area.
11. The child resistant blister card assembly according to claim 7,
wherein the closure comprises a tear tab defined in the back panel,
the tear tab overlying the blister container and being contained in
a region spaced from a contour of the back panel.
12. The child resistant blister card assembly according to claim
11, wherein the releaser is located over an end portion of the tear
tab.
13. The child resistant blister card assembly according to claim 7,
further comprising a front panel overlying the blister card, the
front panel being adhesively secured to the back panel in a margin
region surrounding the blister card, the front panel having a
opening for receiving the blister container, and wherein the
releaser comprises a score line defined in both said front panel
said blister card.
14. The child resistant blister card assembly according to claim
13, wherein the blister card has corner projections extending
through corresponding corner holes defined in the front panel.
Description
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0001] The present application relates to packaging and, more
particularly, to a blister pack for dispensing items such as pills,
capsules and/or tablets, that requires the user to perform a series
of steps to access a pill within the card, thus preventing a child,
but not an adult, access to items present within the blister
pack.
BACKGROUND OF THE ART
[0002] Child resistant packaging for pills, such as tablets and
capsules, is well known for preventing uncontrolled consumption of
pills by children. For example, blister packs having reinforced
push-through type backing foil have been used in an attempt to
prevent children from accessing pills within the blister pack.
Often, however, such blister packs are difficult for adults,
particularly elderly adults, to open.
[0003] Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide child
resistant packaging that renders access to pills difficult for
children yet facile for adults.
SUMMARY
[0004] In accordance with one general aspect, there is provided a
child resistant card for dispensing pills, e.g., capsules and/or
tablets, that renders access to the pills difficult for a child but
not for an adult. The child resistant blister card enables the user
to access the item disposed within the card after performing a
series of steps.
[0005] According to one aspect, there is provided a child resistant
blister card assembly comprising: a blister card having a blister
cavity for holding one item to be dispensed, and a foil sealing the
item in the blister cavity; a protective envelope in which the
blister card is retained captive, the protective envelope having a
front panel and a back panel, the blister card being received
between the front panel and the back panel with the blister cavity
of the blister card projecting outwardly through a blister hole
defined in the front panel; a front weakened area defined in the
front panel and the blister card adjacent to the blister cavity; a
tear tab defined in the back panel and underlying the first
weakened area and the blister cavity, when in place, the tear tab
providing resistance to prevent the item from being pushed through
the foil of the blister card, the tear tab being held in a
non-accessible position to prevent a person from grasping and
pulling on the tear tab, wherein the tear tab is released from said
non-accessible position thereof by applying a sufficient pressure
on the front weakened area to depress the front weakened area and
cause detachment of a portion of the tear tab from the back panel,
thereby providing a grasp by which the tear tab can then be peeled
back to expose the foil.
[0006] According to a further aspect, there is provided a child
resistant blister card assembly comprising: a blister card
including a container sheet defining at least one blister container
for receiving an item to be dispensed, and a backing foil sealing
the item in the blister container; a back panel at least partly
covering said backing foil, the back panel having a closure held in
a closed position in which the closure prevents the item from being
push through the backing foil; and a releaser provided on a front
face of said blister card and being adapted to transfer a pressure
to said closure so as to release the closure from said closed
position thereof, thereby allowing subsequent displacement of the
closure from the closed position to an open position in which the
backing foil is exposed such as to allow the item to be pushed
through the backing foil.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0007] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a child resistant blister
package shown in an unassembled state and including a blister card
adapted to be captively received between hingedly interconnected
front and back paperboard panels.
[0008] FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the assembled child
resistant blister package shown in FIG. 1, the section being taken
transversely through a central blister cavity or pocket; and
[0009] FIGS. 3a to 3c illustrate the series of steps required to
dispense a pill contained in the blister package.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0010] FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate a child resistant blister package
10 comprising a push-through blister card 12 and a protective
envelope 14 configured to captively receive the blister card 12. In
the illustrated example, the blister package 12 is intended to be
used to dispense a single item I, such as a pill, a capsule and/or
a tablet, for which the dosage is, for instance, once a month.
While a single-product blister package is shown, it is understood
that the present application also encompasses multiple-item blister
packages.
[0011] The blister card 12 is of conventional construction and
comprises a container sheet 16 having a centrally disposed raised
cavity also referred to as a blister container 18 formed therein
and projecting from a front face thereof. A backing foil 20 is heat
sealed or otherwise secured to the container sheet 16 to seal the
item I in the blister container 18. The container sheet 16 is made
of a material having sufficient flexibility for allowing the
blister container 18 to be easily manually depressed. For instance,
the container sheet can be made out of clear plastic materials,
such as transparent polyvinyl chloride, polyethylene or
polypropylene. This is not intended to constitute an exhaustive
list. The backing foil 20 can be provided in the form of a laminate
of thin metal foil such as aluminum foil. Other suitable materials
are contemplated as well. The structure of the backing foil 20 is
such that manual depression of the blister container 18 downwardly
against the item I is sufficient to push the item I through the
backing foil 20. Such foils are known as push-through foils.
[0012] The protective envelope 14 can be formed of a single sheet
of solid paperboard material die-cut in the desired configuration.
As shown in FIG. 1, the envelope 14 comprises a front paperboard
panel 22 and a back paperboard panel 24 integrally interconnected
along a fold line or live hinge 26. The blister card 12 is
sandwiched between the front and back panels 22 and 24 of the
protective envelope 14. A central opening 28 is defined in the
front panel 22. The blister container 18 protrudes through the
central opening 28. Likewise, openings 30 are defined in the corner
regions of the front panel 22 for receiving corresponding
projections 31 formed in the container sheet 16 of the blister card
12. The projections 31 in the openings 30 provide added stability
to the package 10 once fully assembled. Alternatively, corner domes
or projections 31 could be substituted by stability ridges
according to the layout and configuration of the package. It is
noted that such additional stability is not always required and as
such the stability features are considered optional. The back panel
24 overlies the backing foil 20 of the blister card 12 and provides
the required strength to prevent the item I contained in the
blister container 18 from being dispensed in a single step by
solely manually depressing the blister container 18 so as to push
the item I through the backing foil 20.
[0013] While the protective envelope 14 has been described as being
made of paperboard, it is understood that it could made of any
other suitable material offering enough strength to prevent the
item I from being pushed directly by hand through the backing foil
20 when the back panel 24 is in place behind the blister card 12.
Also, additional serially interconnected foldable panels (not
shown) similar to the front and back panels 22 and 24 could
integrally extend from one of the front and back panels 22 and 24
to allow the package 10 to fold into a wallet-like configuration,
thereby providing a nice and clean packaging aspect to the product.
Information on the item contained in the blister card 12 as well as
graphic representations could be printed on the outer foldable
sections of the envelope 14 to further provide an appealing
package.
[0014] The assembly of the blister package 10 can be done by first
positioning the blister card 12 on the inner face of the front
paperboard panel 22 and then adhesively securing the blister card
12 to the front panel 22. The adhesive can be solely applied along
one side of the blister card 12. Not all of the surface of the
blister card 12 needs to be bonded to the front paperboard panel
22. The bonding between the blister card 12 and the front panel 22
of the envelope 14 is mainly done for maintaining the relative
disposition of the blister card 12 and the front paperboard panel
22 during the assembly process and is thus not considered critical
to the integrity of the package. Then, the front and back
paperboard panels 22 and 24 are closed on the blister card 12 and
adhesively secured together, for instance, by applying an adhesive
on the inwardly facing surfaces of the front and back panels 22 and
24 within a margin area outwardly of the periphery of the blister
card 12 (see FIG. 2).
[0015] A weakened area 32 is provided in the front panel 22 and the
blister card 12 just above the blister container 18 and the
corresponding central hole 28. The weakened area 32 can be provided
by a semi-circular or half-moon score line 34 die cut in the front
panel 22 and the blister card 12. The semi-circular score line 34
is sized to form a thumb pressing region (see FIG. 3a) which can be
easily depressed with a thumb in order to release a pull zipper or
tear tab 36 formed in the back panel 24 of the protective envelope
14. The tear tab 36 is otherwise not accessible; it is confined
within the back panel 24. In order to be able to grasp the tear tab
36, the weakened area 32 must be depressed by manually pressing
thereon so as to cause a portion of the tear tab 36 to come out of
the plane of the back panel 24, thereby providing a tab portion by
which the user can subsequently grasp the tear tab 34 in order to
ripped it off from the back panel 24, thereby exposing the backing
foil 20.
[0016] The tear tab 36 extends over the blister container 28 and
the front weakened area 32. The score line defining the outline of
the tear tab 36 is spaced inwardly from the contour of the back
panel 24. This prevents someone from picking up one end of the tear
tab 36 to pull it off before the front weakened area 32 is
depressed. The half-moon score line 34 is in registry with the
upper end portion of the tear tab 36 and disposed slightly inwardly
of the tear tab score line. In this way, the pressure applied on
the weakened area 32 is directly transmitted to the upper end
portion of the tear tab 36 through the blister pack 12 until the
tear tab upper end portion detaches from the remaining portion of
the back panel 24.
[0017] FIGS. 3a to 3c show the procedure to dispense the item I
from the blister package 10. Three steps are required to access the
item I. First, as shown in FIG. 3a, the user must depress the front
weakened area 32 by pushing thereon with one of his/her fingers,
typically the thumb. In doing so, the upper end portion of the tear
tab 36 is released from the remaining portion of the back panel 24
of the protective envelope 14. The first step is required to gain
access to the tear tab 36 which is otherwise held in a
non-accessible position. Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 3b, the user
can grasp the upper portion of the tear tab 36 to pull it away so
as to expose the portion of the backing foil 20 covering the
blister container 18. The user can then press with his/her thumb on
the blister container 18 to push the item I through the uncovered
region of foil 20.
[0018] The above procedure thus requires a series of steps to be
performed in order to access the item I. These steps are relatively
easy for an adult to accomplish but sufficiently difficult to
discourage a young child.
[0019] The above description is meant to be exemplary only, and one
skilled in the art will recognize that changes may be made to the
embodiments described without departing from the scope of the
invention disclosed. For instance, it is understood that the front
weakened area could be disposed on the sides or below the blister
container. The weakened area 32 is one possible way of releasing
the tear tab 36. Other suitable pressure transferring structures
could also be used as releasers to cause a portion of the tear tab
to become detached from the back panel 24. According to a
non-illustrated embodiment, the front panel 22 could be omitted and
the front weakened area 32 could only be formed in the blister card
12. In this case the blister card 12 would be adhesively secured to
the back panel 24. The adhesive would be placed at strategic places
in order not to interfere with the release of the tear tab 36, i.e.
the tear tab would be adhesive free. The tear tab 36 could be
replaced by other forms of closures adapted to be opened after
having first performed an "unlocking" step. Other modifications can
be made without departing from scope of the invention as defined in
the following claims.
* * * * *