Strip package

Abstract

A package for an adhesive bandage which is formed from a carrier having a central pad and adhesive surface zones on each side covered by a removable protective foil. The bandage is inserted in an enveloping casing open at one end so that one edge of the bandage projects therefrom. The foil is attached to the casing so that the adhesive layer normally covered by said foil will be automatically uncovered when the bandage is withdrawn from the base sheeting.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

The present invention relates to a strip package with means for exposing adhesive zones which are arranged on a carrier and covered by protective foils. The present invention can preferably be used for packages of adhesive bandages or plasters and will be described in the following with reference to this particular application, without however being limited thereto.

Conventional adhesive bandages comprise a strip-like carrier having on one surface an adhesive layer on which is centrally located a dressing pad and defining self-adhesive binder zones which extends on each side of the dressing. Until the moment of use, the adhesive zones are protected by protective foils which are intended to be pulled off before the bandage is used. The removal of these protective foils is troublesome and generally requires the use of both hands. Furthermore, there is a risk that the surface of the wound would be irritated when the bandage is applied because the dressing must usually being applied on the wound first thereafter removing the protective foils by pulling them in opposite directions away from the wound. Furthermore, there is considerable risk that the dressing pad will not be correctly placed over the wound since removing the protective foils is difficult.

It is the object of the present invention to provide a strip package in which the removal of the protective foil covering an adhesive zone is facilitated and in which the disadvantages of the prior art are overcome.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a strip package for adhesive bandages having a central dressing and an adhesive zone on each side of said dressing, where each of said zones are covered by a removable protective foil, in which means for an automatically removal of at least one of said protective foil is achieved when the plaster is removed from said packages.

The foregoing objects, others as well as numerous advantages will be seen from the following disclosure of the present invention.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to the present invention a strip package is provided comprising a base sheeting cover and a strip carrier having on one surface an adhesive layer at least in part, covered by a removable protective foil. One end of the foil is attached to the cover so that said adhesive surface layer will be uncovered during the removal from the cover.

In a preferred form of the invention the strip carrier comprises an adhesive bandage having a central dressing and an adhesive zone on each side of said dressing, each of said adhesive zones being covered by a removable, protective foil. The bandage is enclosed in a base sheeting in the form of a casing with one end of the bandage slighly projecting from an opening in said casing. In order to achieve the desired removal of a protective foil one of these foils is attached inside the casing adjacent to the opening so that the appropriate adhesive zone will be uncovered during the removal of said plaster from said casing.

Full details of the present invention are set forth in the following description and will be seen in the attached drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a top view of a multiple pack having a number of casings, each containing a plaster,

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a means according to the invention for exposing at least a part of the adhesive zone on a plaster,

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a plaster which has been partially withdrawn from a casing, and

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a suitable outer envelope for the multiple pack shown in FIG. 1, and,

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 2 showing a modification of the pack.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The multiple pack shown in FIG. 1 comprises a number of adhesive bandages 2, each in its own enveloping casing, located side by side. The various wrapper spacers or casings 1 can be separated from each other along their common side edges 3. For this purpose the side edges 3 may be provided in known manner with perforations, slits or the like. The individual casings 1 suitably consist of two endless sheets 4,5 of material, for example plastic, paper, such as COSIL paper, aluminium or the like arranged one on top of the other. To provide the casings, these sheets are joined together by means of adhesive, welding or in some other way depending on the choice of material, within an area along their two opposite longitudinal side boundaries 6, 7 and the bottom boundary 8. In this way casings 1 are produced adjacent each other, which are open at one end 9 and can be separated from each other. The adhesive bandages 2 may suitably be inserted in the casings 1 during production of the multiple pack, in which case the adhesive bandages 2 could easily be applied between the endless sheets of material 4,5 before they are joined together. The bandages 2 are arranged in such a way that one end 10 projects slightly from the finished casing and that the opposite end 11 is located within the enveloping casing at a distance from the lower boundary edge 8 of each casing.

In the embodiment shown in the drawings the bandages 2 consist conventionally of a striplike carrier 12 having an adhesive layer on one surface providing a self-adhesive surface zone 13, 14 on each side of a pad-like dressing 15 arranged approximately centrally on the carrier 12. The adhesive layers 13, 14 are protected in conventional manner before the bandage 2 is used, by covering them with removable protective foils 16,17 which overlap each other and cover the dressing pad 15 so that this is also protected.

In order to enable forcible exposure of at least one of the adhesive zones 13,14 on the bandage 2, e.g.: in the case shown the adhesive zone 14, a fixing device is provided in the form of a strip 18 attached in the edge zones 6,7 of the sheet 4 of material of the casing. The strip 18 extends transversely across the entire width of the bandage 2 and overlies the overlapping and of the foil 16. This strip 18 is at least partially joined on the side facing the bandage, to the protective foil 16 covering the adhesive zone 14. The protective foil 16 extends from the outer edge of the adhesive zone 14 over the pad-like dressing to a point near the protective foil 17 adjacent the open edge 9. At this point the end 16a of the protective foil 16 projecting over the dressing pad 15 is then suitably folded double along a folding line 19 so that the free edge 20 of the protective foil 16 when folded is directed towards the adhesive zone 14 and the upper side of the end 16a thus folded in the vicinity of the strip 18 is joined to the strip 18. This attachment between adjacent surfaces of the strip 18 and the protective foil 16a can be achieved by glueing, welding, point-welding or the like.

FIG. 3 shows clearly what happens when the bandage 2 is withdrawn from the casing 1 by pulling on the exposed end 10 while holding the bottom edge 8 of the casing. Since the folded end 16a of the protective foil 16 is joined to the stationary strip 18, the foil will be forcibly removed from the adhesive zone 14 while the bandage 2 is being pulled from the casing. The bandage 2, with the adhesive zone 14 thus exposed can then be applied on the intended spot, after which the protective foil 17 - which still covers the other adhesive zone 13 - can also be removed from the bandage 2 by continued pulling, at the same time as the bandage is stretched and is thus easily attached to the skin while the protective foil 17 is being removed, to give final attachment of the plaster.

The strip 18 can easily be applied in the form of a continuous strip of material in the manner described, during manufacture of the wrapping, such a strip of material being inserted continuously between the two sheets of casing 4,5 and attached to the edge zones of the sheet 4 at the same time as the side welds 6,7 are applied.

The fixing device shown in the form of a strip 18 can of course be designed in many different ways within the scope of the invention and have principally the same function. For example the strip 18 may be omitted completely if the protective foil intended to be pulled off is instead attached to the part of the sheet of material 5 lying over and in contact with said foil.

Furthermore, the end 16a of the protective foil 16 may have laterally projecting sections which could be attached directly to one of the inner sides of the sheets of material 4 or 5.

According to an alternative embodiment of the invention, the bandage 2 need not necessarily be arranged in a casing formed by two sheets 4,5 of material, but may also be arranged only on a base, for instance having the same shape as the rectangular part of the casing shown in FIG. 2. In this case, the strip 18 shown in FIG. 5 may be used or, for example in the manner described above, a slightly projecting part 20a of the protective foil to be pulled off may be attached directly to the base sheeting.

As pointed out above, the invention is not limited to the use described here although the application of the invention in this specific field offers considerable advantages. In principle the invention may be used to quickly expose adhesive zones in many fields, for example to expose the adhesive surfaces in various types of tape, adhesive dressings, etc.

FIG. 4 shows a suitable outer wrapping in the form of an envelope to hold an arbitrary number of casings 1, each containing a plaster 2. These bands or sheets of casings are then clamped at their lower ends 21, opposite to the open ends of the wrapper pockets 2, in a wrappping 22 between a lower fold 23,24. They may be clamped in many ways, for example by means of staples 25, glue or the like. This envelope, similar to a match-book, can be closed by means of a front flap 26, the lower edge 27 of the flap 26 being inserted between the flap 23 and the first row of bandages in order to close the wrapping.

Various modifications, changes and embodiments have been described above. Others will be obvious to those skilled in the present art. Accordingly, it is intended that the present disclosure should be limited only by the claims appended hereto.

Claims

I claim::

1. An individual package for a single flat adhesive bandage provided with a central pad and adhesive zones on each side thereof, said adhesive zones being covered by removable protective foils at least one of which covers said pad, said package comprising an outer casing open at one end for receiving and enveloping said flat bandage with one end of the bandage projecting therefrom, at least said one protective foil covering the pad and the adjacent adhesive zone being located within the outer casing, the end of said one protective foil nearest to the open end of said casing being folded back 180.degree. over said pad and secured to the inner surface of said casing adjacent the open end, whereby said one protective foil may be forcibly removed from said pad and said adhesive zone when the bandage is withdrawn by its projecting end from the outer casing.

2. A package according to claim 1, wherein said folded end of the protective foil is provided with sections projecting laterally therefrom and which are secured to the inner walls of the outer casing.

3. A package according to claim 1, wherein a transverse securing strip is arranged to cover the folded end of the covering foil, said strip being secured by its short ends to the outer casing and at the same time being at least partially secured to the folded end of the covering foil.

4. A package according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of outer casings, each containing a bandage in flattened state are joined together to form a multiple package.

5. A package according to claim 3, wherein a plurality of outer casings each containing a bandage in flattened condition are joined together along their longitudinal edges to form a multiple package and said securing strip is arranged as a continuous band through each of said casings in said multiple package.

6. A package according to claim 5, wherein one or more of said multiple pack is arranged in an envelope comprising a bottom fold to which said multiple pack is attached and an openable flap folded over the remaining portions of said multiple pack.