EP3470348B1

EP3470348B1 - Blister package with operable flap

Info

Publication number: EP3470348B1
Application number: EP18199638.0A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Cindy Stadelmaier; Michael G. Cannamela; Max Hunter Knecht; James H. Comly
Original assignee: Johnson and Johnson Consumer Inc
Current assignee: Johnson and Johnson Consumer Inc
Priority date: 2017-10-11
Filing date: 2018-10-10
Publication date: 2020-11-25
Anticipated expiration: 2038-10-10
Also published as: BR102018070906A8; DK3470348T3; RU2018134956A; AR113316A1; ES2846499T3; RU2018134956A3; BR102018070906A2; US20190106265A1; JP2019073338A; EP3470348A1; AU2018247241A1; CA3020380A1; JP7353740B2; CN109649829B; CN109649829A

Description

Background of the Invention

Blister card display packages are commonly used in retail merchandising to contain and display small articles. Such packages often include a paperboard card on which the product name and other information is printed and a plastic blister pack containing the article secured on the card. In addition, a hole is often placed at the top of the card so that the package can be hung from an extended peg of a pegboard display.
Blister card display packages are also often used to contain multiple small articles such as tablets, each contained within a separate blister portion. See, e.g., US Patent 7,866,476 . However, such package requires substantial amount of paperboard to protect the rupturable film portion covers the unused blister portions when not in use, resulting the packages being thick and bulky.
US 2009/0288978 A1 discloses a child resistant blister card 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.
US 2008/0060968 A1 discloses a drug card having a tamper proof serrated pull tab on the back.
WO 2013/035008 A1 discloses a blister pack dispensing package having a middle panel providing a pocket for accommodating a blister pack, and first and second side panels hinged to opposite sides of the middle panel.
CA 2,212,112 A1 discloses a package for storing and displaying a product contained in a blister pack.
The present invention relates to an improved blister card display package containing a plurality of blister portions that includes an operable flap that allows access to the rupturable film sheet covering the blister portions.

Summary of the Invention

In one aspect, the present invention features a blister card display package including a card containing a front sheet having a front outer face and a front inner face and a rear sheet having a rear outer face and a rear inner face, wherein at least a portion of the rear inner face is affixed to the front inner face; and a unitary blister pack mounted between the front inner face and the rear inner face and containing a plurality of blister portions for containing an article to be displayed and a rupturable film sheet covering the plurality of blister portions; wherein the rear sheet contains one or more openings that allow the plurality of blister portions to protrude through the rear outer face of the card and the front sheet contains an operable flap that allows access to the portion of the rupturable film sheet covering the plurality of blister portions, and wherein said operable flap comprises a tab that is operative to releasably maintain said operable flap over the portion of said rupturable film sheet covering said plurality of blister portions.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the detailed description of the invention and claims.

Brief Description of the Figures

Fig. 1 is an exploded view of blister card display package 1 showing card 5 and unitary blister pack 40 prior to mounting of unitary blister pack 40 on card 5.
Fig. 2 is a perspective view of blister card display package 1 showing blister portions 45 protruding through rear sheet 25.
Fig. 3 is a perspective view of blister card display package 1 showing operable flap 60 in the closed position.
Fig. 4 is a perspective view of blister card display package 1 showing operable flap 60 in the open position.

Detailed Description of the Invention

As discussed above, the present invention features a blister card display package. As shown in Fig. 1, the blister card display package 1 includes a card 5 and a unitary blister pack 40. The card 5 may be made of a variety of materials, such as paperboard or a rigid or semi-rigid plastic sheet. The card 5 may be desirably made of recyclable material.
The card 5 has both a front sheet 10 (having both a front outer face 15 and a front inner face 20) and a rear sheet 25 (having a rear outer face 30 and a rear inner face 35). In one embodiment as shown in Fig. 1, the card 5 is made of a unitary sheet that can be folded along crease 6 to form the front sheet 10 and the rear sheet 25. In another embodiment (not shown), the front sheet and the rear sheet are separate sheets which may or may not be made of the same material.
As shown in Fig. 2, in order to mount unitary blister pack 40, at least a portion of the rear inner face 35 of rear sheet 25 is affixed to the front inner face 20 of front sheet 10. The rear sheet 25 may be affixed to front sheet 10 by use of heat sealing, adhesive seals (such as with heat-activated or solvent adhesive such as glues), RF or sonic seals, or any other suitable means. The materials of the front sheet 10 and the rear sheet 25 may be pre-treated to facilitate sealing of such materials together. The rear sheet 25 may be affixed to front sheet 10 proximate to one or more of edges 31, 32, 33, and 34.
As mentioned above, the blister card display package 1 includes a unitary blister pack 40. The unitary blister pack 40 contains a plurality of blister portions 45 for containing the article to be displayed by the blister card display package 1. The unitary blister pack 40 may include at least four blister portions 45, such as at least eight four blister portions 45, such as at least ten blister portions 45.
The unitary blister pack 40 and/or the blister portions 45 may be made into a variety of shapes and sizes based upon the shape, size, and friability of the articles to be contained within. The unitary blister pack 40 and/or the blister portions 45 may also be made of a variety of materials suitable to hold and protect the articles to be contained within. The blister portions may be made of a transparent plastic material to allow the articles to be seen through the blister portions 45. Such plastic material may be clear or have color. The unitary blister pack 40 may be manufactured by various means known in the art, including thermoform and injection molding techniques. The unitary blister pack 40 may be manufactured with a rigid or semi-rigid material. Suitable materials include, but are not limited to, plastic materials such as polypropylene, polyethylene, polychlorotrifluoroethylene, polyethylene terephthalate, cyclic olefin copolymer, ethylene vinyl alcohol, high density polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride, polyvinylidene chloride, fluorinated-chlorinated resin, fluoropolymer, and mixtures and laminates thereof. The unitary blister pack 40 is desirably made of recyclable material.
The unitary blister pack 40 also contains a rupturable film sheet 50 covering each of the plurality of blister portions 45. Rupturable film sheet 50 retains the article within blister portion 45, but allows the user to intentionally remove the article from a blister portion 45 by rupturing the part of rupturable film sheet 50 covering such blister portion (such portions depicted within areas 51 in Fig. 4). The rupturable film sheet 50 may include features or materials such as a heat sealable layer, aluminum foil, adhesive/bonding layers, primer, polyester, paper, metalized film, polyethylene, ink for printing, polyvinyl chloride, polypropylene, bi-axially oriented polypropylene, ethylene vinyl alcohol, and combinations thereof. The rupturable film sheet 50 may be a laminate of thin metal foil such as aluminum foil and paper. The foil side of the laminate faces the article contained in the blister portion 45 and the paper side serves as an additional area to add writing or instructions for the user. The rupturable film may be ruptured by the user by pushing the article through the portion of the film above the blister portion, by peeling back or breaking such portion of the film, which may or may not be perforated or pre-cut, to expose the article, or by other similar means. The rupturable film sheet 50 is desirably made of recyclable material.
The rupturable film sheet 50 may be affixed to unitary blister pack 40 by use of heat sealing, adhesive seals (such as with heat-activated or solvent adhesive such as glues), RF or sonic seals, or any other suitable means. The materials of the rupturable film sheet 50 and the unitary blister pack 40 may be pre-treated to facilitate sealing of such materials together.
As shown in Fig. 2, the unitary blister pack 40 is mounted between the front inner face 20 of front sheet 10 and the rear inner face 35 of rear sheet 25. As shown in Fig. 1, rear sheet 25 contains blister openings 55 that allow the plurality of blister portions 45 to protrude through rear outer face 15 of rear sheet 25. In one embodiment, as shown in Fig. 2, there is a blister opening for each blister portion. Such arrangement also assists maintaining the unitary blister pack 40 mounted between front sheet 10 and rear sheet 25 In another embodiment (not shown), multiple blister portions protrude through a single blister opening.
As shown in Fig. 3, front sheet 10 contains an operable flap 60 that allows access to the portion of the rupturable film sheet 50 covering the plurality of blister portions 45. Fig. 3 depicts operable flap 60 in a closed position, covering the portion of the rupturable film sheet 50 covering the plurality of blister portions 45. Flap 60 may initially be opened by breaking flap perforations 61 and folding operable flap 60 along flap crease 62. Fig 4. depicts operable flap 60 in an open position, exposing the portion of the rupturable film sheet 50 covering the plurality of blister portions 45 (such portions depicted within areas 51 in Fig. 4). By exposing the rupturable film sheet 50, the user of the package is able to beak the portion of the rupturable film sheet 50 covering a blister portion 45 and remove the article contained within. The operable flap 60 may then be returned to the closed position covering the portion of the rupturable film sheet 50 covering the remainder of blister portions 45 still containing articles.
The operable flap 60 also provides visibility to a portion of front inner face 20 of the front sheet 10 when the operable flap 60 is in the open position. Both the outer face of the operable flap 60 and the inner face of the operable flap 60 may contain writing.
The front sheet 10 may contain a single operable flap 60 that allows access to the portion of the rupturable film sheet 50 covering all of the plurality of blister portions 45. Alternatively, the front sheet 10 may contain a plurality of operable flaps 60 each of which allows access to only a portion of the rupturable film sheet 50 covering only a portion of the plurality of blister portions 45.
The operable flap 60 contains a tab 70 that is operative to releasably maintain the operable flap 60 over the portion of the rupturable film sheet 50 covering the plurality of blister portions 45. When the operable flap 60 is in the closed position, tab 70 can come into frictional contact with edges 41 and 42 of rear sheet 25, thereby maintaining operable flap 60 in the closed position.
The card 5 may comprise one or more sets of perforations 75 between a removable portion of card that is not in contact with the unitary blister pack and the portion of the card that is in contact with the unitary blister pack. Such perforations allows for the user once they have purchased the blister card display package 1 to remove a portion of card 5, thereby reducing the size of the blister card display package.
The card may contain an opening 80 for hanging the blister card display package from a support device, such as an extended peg of a pegboard display. The removable portion of the card may contain such opening for hanging the package from a support device.
It is understood that while the invention has been described in conjunction with the detailed description thereof, that the foregoing description is intended to illustrate and not limit the scope of the invention, which is defined by the scope of the appended claims. Other aspects, advantages, and modifications are within the claims.

Claims

A blister card display package (1) comprising:
a card (5) comprising a front sheet (10) having a front outer face (15) and a front inner face (20) and a rear sheet (25) having a rear outer face (30) and a rear inner face (35), wherein at least a portion of said rear inner face (35) is affixed to said front inner face (20); and

a unitary blister pack (40) mounted between said front inner face (20) and said rear inner face (35) and comprising a plurality of blister portions (45) for containing an article to be displayed and a rupturable film sheet (50) covering said plurality of blister portions (45);

wherein said rear sheet (25) comprises one or more openings (55) that allow said plurality of blister portions (45) to protrude through said rear outer face (30) of said card (5) and said front sheet (10) comprises an operable flap (60) that has an open position and a closed position, wherein in said open position said operable flap (60) allows access to the portion of said rupturable film sheet (50) covering said plurality of blister portions (45),

wherein said operable flap (60) comprises a tab (70) that is operative to releasably maintain said operable flap (60) over the portion of said rupturable film sheet (50) covering said plurality of blister portions (45), and

wherein in said closed position, said tab (70) is in frictional contact with edges (41, 42) of the rear sheet (25), thereby maintaining said operable flap (60) in said closed position.
The blister card display package (1) of claim 1, wherein said card (5) is comprised of a unitary sheet folded to form said front sheet (10) and said rear sheet (25).
The blister card display package (1) of claim 1 or claim 2, wherein said unitary blister pack (40) comprises at least four blister portions (45).
The blister card display package (1) of any preceding claim, wherein both the outer face of said operable flap (60) and the inner face of said operable flap (60) contains writing.
The blister card display package (1) of any preceding claim, wherein said plurality of blister portions (45) are formed of a transparent plastic material.
The blister card display package (1) of any preceding claim, wherein said card (5) comprises perforations (61) between a removable portion of the card (5) that is not in contact with said unitary blister pack (40) and the portion of the card (5) that is in contact with said unitary blister pack (40).
The blister card display package (1) of any preceding claim, wherein said card (5) comprises an opening (80) for hanging the package from a support device.
The blister card display package (1) of claim 6, wherein said removable portion of said card (5) comprises an opening (80) for hanging the package from a support device.