EP0712790A1 - Blister packaging - Google Patents

Abstract

The blister packaging, has a clip section (35, 36) as a cover moving over the cover foil surface (33). The section (35, 36) contains a cover to shroud ≥ one opened recess (32) or two recesses in the packaging. The opened recesses can be adjacent or on facing sides, for ≥ one to be covered by the moving shrouding clip. The cover clip (35, 36) slides along the blister package (30) to reclose a recess (32) where the covering foil has been penetrated or removed, or to cover a recess which remains empty when the packaging is filled with the pharmaceuticals.

Description

The present invention relates to blister packs for pharmaceuticals consisting of a base part with a plurality of depressions which are surrounded by a shoulder and a lid film fixed to the shoulder, a removable content being located in the depressions and by pressing the respective depression and piercing the lid film through the Contents or by removing the cover film over the recess, the content can be removed, the blister pack having a movable cover which covers the recesses and the cover is slidably arranged over the cover film.

It is known to fill the bottom parts of blister packs, in particular blister packs, with contents and to cover them with a full-surface cover material and to seal the cover material. The blister pack is characterized by a single or, in particular, a plurality of individual compartments in which, for example, solid moldings or shaped solid preparations or pharmaceutical products such as tablets or coated tablets are stored. If a single item, e.g. If a tablet is removed, a depression is pressed into the bottom part and the tablet in turn pierces the lid material.

Various types of blister packs are encompassed by the present invention. These are, for example, the so-called blister packs. For push-through packs, for example, the lid material is made from an aluminum foil or an aluminum foil composite. The aluminum foil is a preferred material for the lid of blister packs, since the selected thickness of the lid materials means that relatively low breaking forces are necessary, and thus the piercing energy required is low and the aluminum shows essentially no elasticity. As a rule, the bottom of the blister pack is made of plastic, such as of plastics, for example the series of PVC, polyamides, polyolefins, polyesters and composites or multilayer materials containing at least one of these materials and optionally also containing an aluminum foil. Other blister packs have a bottom part which is covered with a cover film. The cover film can cover the bottom part over the entire surface and the cover material is advantageously provided with a line of weakness in the region of each recess or each recess can be covered with an individual cover segment. A grip tab can be attached within the line of weakness or on each cover segment, which makes it possible to expose a single depression by peeling off the cover segment. The base parts and the cover materials are generally made of the materials mentioned, whereby plastic composites can also be used for the cover materials.

Such blister packs have found widespread use in the healthcare sector, but also for the distribution of sweets such as pastilles and candies, and have become indispensable in everyday life due to the possibility of gentle storage of sensitive contents and the easy-to-use removal of content. In the context of increased savings efforts in the healthcare sector, the aim is to keep the blister packs as small as possible and also to limit the number of different formulations. This can mean that a pharmaceutical formulation is only manufactured in one concentration level and it can therefore happen that not an entire tablet or a whole tablet has to be taken, but e.g. according to the body weight or the course of the disease in a patient only a subset, e.g. half of a tablet or coated tablet has to be administered. It is also conceivable to fill two or more tablets, dragées, capsules, ampoules and the like into a depression and, in some cases, to use only a subset of them at a time. With the usual blister packs e.g. the remaining amount of a tablet divided into two can only be poured into the depression again with difficulty and the depression can no longer be closed again, since the lid material over the depression has torn, burst or peeled off (peeled).

The object of the present invention is to propose blister packs which enable unused remaining quantities, such as e.g. Parts of a tablet or a tablet or one of several tablets, capsules or ampoules, still safe, i.e. captive and protected from external influences, such as moisture and dirt, until use.

According to the invention, this is achieved in that a clamp element is movably arranged as a cover over the cover film surface and that the clamp element contains a cover element which covers at least one open recess, or that the clamp element comprises two cover elements which are connected to one another at one or both ends by webs are and one of the two cover elements covers at least one open recess or both cover elements each cover at least one opposing open recess and that the clamp element is slidable along the blister pack and the clamp element closes at least one recess with a perforated or removed cover film or at least one recess, which remains unfilled and uncovered when initially filled, closes.

The base parts of the present blister packs can be embossed, cast, deep-drawn or vacuum-molded base parts made of plastic, plastic composite, plastic / paper composite or plastic / metal foil composite. Suitable plastics for floor materials are, for example, films and film composites containing PVC, polyamides, polyolefins, polyesters, polycarbonates, etc. The floor parts can also have a barrier layer against gases and vapors. Such barrier layers can be, for example, a metal foil embedded in a plastic composite, such as an aluminum foil, or, expediently arranged between two plastic layers, can be ceramic layers or metallic layers. Ceramic layers can be produced, for example, by evaporating metals, oxides or nitrides of aluminum, silicon and other metals and semi-metals in a vacuum and depositing the substances on a plastic carrier. These methods are known, for example, under chemical vapor deposition and physical vapor deposition or sputtering. The ceramic layers can preferably contain aluminum oxides or silicon oxides or can be mixtures of different oxides, optionally also in a mixture with metals, such as silicon or aluminum or others. Metallic layers can be produced by evaporating metals in vacuo and depositing the metals on a plastic carrier, aluminum layers being exemplary. The plastic carrier can be a plastic film or a plastic base part made of the plastics mentioned. The lid material for blister packs is usually an aluminum foil or a composite containing aluminum foil. It has also been proposed to replace the aluminum foil with a plastic that has low elasticity and poor stretch properties. Such plastics are obtained, for example, when large amounts of fillers are mixed into the plastic. This latter variant would make it possible to obtain sorted waste, that is to say no mixture of metal and plastics. Plastic films and plastic film composites can also be used for blister packs with peelable (peelable) lid material. The bottom parts usually have between 6 and 30 wells, such as cells or bowls. The recesses are surrounded by a shoulder all around, the shoulders forming a coherent, flat surface. The bottom parts are provided, for example, as an endless material, filled with the content, and the lid material, in particular as a lid film, is also run in as an endless material. The cover film covers the bottom parts over the entire surface and for example by sealing or gluing the cover film is connected to the shoulders on the shoulders. The cover film can be sealed or glued over the entire surface of the shoulders or, by choosing a sealing tool or an adhesive pattern, this sealing or gluing can also be carried out only partially. The endless band of covered bottom parts can then be cut to the finished sizes. For example done by a punch. On this occasion, the blister packs can also be given outer contours or it is possible to weaken the lid material or the base part in order to fold a blister pack, for example, or to produce lid segments which enable the lid segment to be easily removed and the contents removed.

A blister pack according to the present invention is expedient, the bottom part and the cover film are fixed to one another and the blister pack is folded along a line or that two blister packs lie on top of one another, in such a way that two bottom part halves abut one another and two cover film halves form the outside and a clamp element made of two by means of a web of connected tongues overlaps the two folded bottom part halves with the tongues and the clamp element is movable over the cover film surfaces, such as being slidable or liftable, and one or both tongues has at least one width which is capable of covering at least one open recess or that the clamp element has two Includes cover elements which are connected to one another at their ends by webs and each cover element has a width which corresponds at least to the width of a depression and each cover element on each cover film half has at least e is able to cover an open depression and the clamp element is slidable along the length or width of the blister pack.

Also expedient is a blister pack according to the present invention, the bottom part of which has two parallel side edges and the bottom part is covered with the cover film and a clamp element, which covers at least one or more recesses, is slidably mounted over the cover film and the clamp element has the two parallel side edges of the blister pack encloses or encompasses in a ring.

Furthermore, a blister pack according to the present invention is expedient, in which the base part and the cover film are overlapped by a clip element from a web and tongues formed on both sides of the web and a tongue as cover element of the clip element covers at least one recess on the cover film side of the blister pack and the other tongue engages on the bottom part side between at least two mutually adjacent depressions or the tongue engages on both sides of a depression.

Finally, a blister pack according to the present invention is expedient in which the blister pack has a round outer circumference and the depressions in the bottom part are arranged in one or more concentric circles and the bottom part is rotatable in the Clamping element made of cover and clamping or clamp ring is arranged and the cover has at least one recess through which the content can be pushed through.

A clamp element covers at least one depression. A clamp element can also cover two, three or four depressions at the same time. For example, tongues can be one or two etc. whole rows or part of one, two etc. rows of depressions, i.e. for example, cover two, three, four, etc. depressions. Cover elements can cover one, two, etc. entire rows of depressions, each with, for example, one, two, three, four, etc. depressions. The maximum number of depressions covered by a clip element suitably corresponds to the number of depressions in a blister pack less than one.

The present invention is explained in more detail by way of example with reference to FIGS. 1-5.

FIG. 1 shows a blister pack or push-through pack, as is customarily used today for the packaging of pharmaceutical products, such as tablets or coated tablets. FIG. 1 a) shows the top view of a blister pack 10 which is connected to a cover film 13 via its shoulders 11 on the base part 14. Indicated are the depressions 12 which are covered by the cover film. A longitudinal section through the blister pack 10 is shown in FIG. 1b). The base part 14 with its depressions 12 lies against the cover film 13 via the shoulders 11. In the area of the shoulders 11, the cover film with the bottom part is e.g. sealed or glued (seal / adhesive not shown). FIG. 1 c) shows a cross section through the blister pack 10 with its base part 14, the cover film 13 and the depressions 12 formed thereby.

FIG. 2a) shows a top view of another embodiment of a blister pack according to the present invention. The blister pack 30 has two base parts 34, which are covered with the cover film 33. The two base parts 34 are, for example, placed against one another in such a way that the depressions 32 of the two base parts engage with one another and the depressions 32 of one base part abut the shoulder region 31 of the other base part and the two base parts 34 thus lie against one another. The cover foils 33 of the two base parts 34 face away from one another. So that the two base parts 34 do not fall apart, an adhesive connection 37 is shown by way of example, which can be, for example, an adhesive tape or in a further embodiment also a plastic clip or metal clip or the like. The packaging can be easily opened by opening one of these adhesive connections 37. The blister pack according to FIG. 3 also has a clip element 35 or an annular clip element 36. These two bracket elements represent alternative embodiments. The clamp element 35 consists of a web and two tongues. The web height is chosen such that the two tongues of the clamp element slide over the two cover foils 33. FIG. 2 b) shows a longitudinal section through the blister pack 30 from FIG. 2 a) with the two bottom parts 34 engaging via the depressions 32, the two cover foils 33, the adhesive connections 37 connecting the two halves and the clip element 35. A leaflet or other information can also be seen Product information 38, which can be held by the clamp element 35 or the annular clamp element 36 (not shown here). FIG. 2c) shows a cross section through a blister pack 30 from FIG. 2a) along line BB in FIG. 2a). FIG. 2d) shows a section along the line CC in FIG. 2a). FIG. 2c) shows the two bottom part halves 34 with the interlocking depressions 32 and the cover foils 33. The clamp element 35 can, for example, have a web and two tongues formed thereon. The clip element 35 partially overlaps the two blister pack halves from one side edge. The clamp element 35 can clamp the two halves resiliently. The spring force can be brought about, for example, by spreading a clamp element made of elastic material, for example thermoplastic or elastic plastics, or instead of a connecting web, a spring under tension can impart the desired spring force to the two tongues of the clamp element. The length of the tongues is advantageously chosen at least such that the depressions 32 near the edges are covered on both sides of the cover film. 2d), a section along the line CC from FIG. 2a), shows the alternative embodiment with the annularly enclosing clip element 36. The clip element 36 is designed in a ring shape, ie the clip element 36 completely encompasses the blister pack and the clip element forms, for example, a rectangular cross section out. The annular clamp element 36 also slides over the lower and upper cover film 33 and the clamp element 35, like the annular clamp element 36, is chosen to be at least somewhat larger in width than the diameter of a depression. Thus, the bracket member 35 can be moved, respectively. Change from one side edge to the other and a recess 32 which has been opened can be covered again. The ring-shaped clamp element 36 can be pushed back and forth and its width is selected to be at least somewhat larger than the diameter of a depression. By moving the clamp element 36 along the side edges of the blister pack 30, each depression, if it is open once, can be covered again and any content remaining therein retained.

3a) shows a further embodiment of a blister pack. The blister pack 40 has the shoulders 41, by means of which the cover film 43 is connected to the base part 44 and the depressions 42 form. A bracket element 45 covers as a ring the blister pack 40. The size of the cover 45 is selected such that one side slides over the cover film 43 and the other side slides over the boundaries of the depressions 42 in the base part 44. Figure 3b) shows a longitudinal section, Figure 3c) shows a section along the line AA of Figure 3a). The width of the clamp element 45 is chosen, for example, so large that a recess 42 is securely covered and, for example, the shoulder area is also covered on both sides of the recess 42. This means that the content is safely retained in an open recess 42.

4 shows a blister pack 50 with its shoulders 51 and the depressions 52 in the base part 54, which is covered with the cover film 53. In FIG. 4a), a top view of the blister pack 50 and in FIG. 4b), a longitudinal section through the blister pack 50, two alternative embodiments of clamp elements 55 are shown. These clamp elements can be made of plastic, for example. The clamp element 55 has a web 56 from which two tongues 57 and 59 or a tongue 57 and a double tongue 58 protrude. The tongues press against one another elastically or by means of spring force. FIG. 4 c) shows the blister pack 50 in a section through its width, a clamp element 55 being pushed on. In FIG. 4d) a clamp element 55 is shown as an example, which has a web 56 and a tongue 57. The width of the tongue 57 is selected such that it can grip between two depressions 52 in the base part 54 and is expediently chosen so wide that the width of the tongue 57 corresponds to the smallest distance between two depressions. The clamp element then sits firmly between the two depressions 52 through the tongue 57. A further flat tongue 59 is arranged on the clamp element opposite the tongue 57, which then forms a slide-on cover over, for example, two depressions. 4a) shows a further clamp element 55, which has a double tongue 58 instead of a tongue 57, the double tongue 58 encompassing a depression 52 in the base part 54 on two sides and thus not being laterally displaceable. A sheet-like tongue is arranged opposite the tongues 58 and can cover at least one depression 52 and an edge region. The clip elements 55 can be pulled away from the blister pack 50 in one direction and then release the recess 52. In other words, the clip elements 55 can be pushed onto the blister pack as a slide or tab, in particular self-clamping.

5 shows a blister pack 70 which is round in plan view. FIG. 5 a) shows the blister pack 70 in a top view, a recess 77, here a hole in the cover 75, for example, being shown. According to FIG. 5b), a section in plan view through the blister pack 70, and FIG. 5c), an cross section through the blister pack 70, a plurality of depressions 72 are arranged in a circle. The bottom part 74 with the plurality of depressions 72 is covered with a cover film 73. The cover 75 has a recess 77, which is shown as an example in FIG. 5a) as a circular hole. The position of the recess 77 in the cover 75 is at the same center distance as the recesses 72 and the diameter of the recess 77 corresponds approximately to the diameter of a recess 72. The bottom part 74 filled with content and the cover film 73 is inserted into the cover 75. The cover 75 has an edge and, in order to secure the base part 74 in the cover 75, a clamp element can be formed with, for example, a clamping or clamping ring 76. The clamping ring 76 can have an inwardly directed edge or a groove which holds a leaflet 78 which, like the base part 74, is inserted into the cover 75. Since the clamping ring 76 is a ring with a large center opening, the package insert can be easily removed, whereupon the depressions 72 are exposed towards the bottom and the contents can easily be removed through the recess 77 by piercing the cover film 73. By rotating the lid 75 against the bottom part 74, the package can be securely closed and the remaining contents cannot fall out of the bottom part 74. An emptied depression 72 can be refilled with a residual amount of the contents and closed again by turning the lid 77.

For the sake of clarity, the content has not been indicated in the drawings. However, it is obvious that the content is arranged in the wells. The contents can be, for example, tablets, dragees, pills, capsules, ampoules, and also sweets, lozenges and chewable tablets, etc., and it is not excluded that the blister packs according to the invention can also be used as packaging for technical articles, such as small and very small items or Spare parts for machines and devices that could be used.

Claims (6)

Blister packs (30, 40, 50, 70) for pharmaceuticals from a base part (34, 44, 54, 74) with a plurality of depressions (32, 42, 52, 72) that are supported by a shoulder (31, 41, 51, 71) and a cover film (33, 43, 53, 73) fixed to the shoulder (31, 41, 51, 71), with a removable content located in the recesses (32, 42, 52, 72) and through Pressing the respective recess (32,42,52,72) and piercing the cover film through the content or by removing the cover film over the recess (32,42,52,72), the content is removed, the blister pack (30.40 , 50, 70) has a movable cover which covers the depressions (32, 42, 52, 72) and the cover is slidably arranged over the cover film, characterized in that as a cover, a clamp element (35,36,45,55,75 / 76) is movably arranged above the surface of the cover film and that the clamp element (35,36,45,55,75 / 76) contains a cover element which has at least one open recess ( 32, 42, 52, 72) or that the clamp element (35, 36, 45) comprises two cover elements which are connected to one another at one or both ends by webs and one of the two cover elements has at least one open recess (32, 42, 52) covers or both cover at least one open recess (32, 42, 52) or at least one opposing open recess (32) and that the clamp element (35, 36, 45, 55, 75/76) slides along the Blister pack (30, 40, 50, 70) is displaceable and that the clip element (35, 36, 45, 55, 75/76) closes or at least closes at least one recess (32, 42, 52, 72) with a perforated or removed cover film a recess (32,42,52,72), which at the initial order ll remains unfilled and uncovered, closes. Blister pack according to claim 1, characterized in that the bottom part and the lid film are fixed to each other and the blister pack 30 is folded along a line or that two blister packs 30 lie on top of one another such that two bottom part halves 34 abut each other and two lid film halves 33 the outside of the blister pack form and at least one clamp element 35 from two tongues connected by means of a web overlaps the two folded bottom part halves 34 with the tongues and the clamp element 35 is movable over the cover film surfaces and one or both tongues can cover at least one open recess 32 or that the clamp element 36 can cover two Covers cover elements at their ends are connected to one another by webs and each cover element is able to cover at least one open recess 32 on each cover film half and the clamp element 35 is slidably displaceable along the blister pack 30. Blister pack according to claim 1, characterized in that the bottom part 44 has two parallel side edges 47 and the bottom part 44 is covered with the cover film 43 and over the cover film 43 a clip element 45, which covers at least one or more recesses, sliding along the parallel side edges is mounted and the clip element 45 surrounds or encompasses the blister pack in a ring. Blister pack according to Claim 1, characterized in that the base part 54 and the cover film 53 are overlapped 57, 58, 59 by a clip element 55 comprising a web 56 and tongues formed on both sides of the web 56, and a tongue 59 as a cover element has at least one depression 52 covers the lid film side of the blister pack 50 and the other tongue 57 on the bottom part side engages between at least two mutually adjacent depressions 52 or the tongue 58 engages on both sides of a depression 52. Blister pack according to claim 1, characterized in that the blister pack 70 has a round outer circumference and the depressions 72 are arranged in one or more concentric circles and the bottom part 74 is rotatably arranged in the clamp element comprising the cover 75 and the clamping or clamp ring 76 and the cover 75 has at least one recess 77 through which the content can be pushed. Blister pack according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the blister pack has at least one empty depression which is unfilled during the initial filling and is not covered by the cover film, and on the bottom part, in the area of the empty depression, a clamp element or cover element is fixed, through which the empty recess can be closed and opened once or several times.

Images