GB2249295A

GB2249295A - Packages having tactile orientation indicating means

Info

Publication number: GB2249295A
Application number: GB9023528A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Christopher Paul Martin
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1990-10-30
Filing date: 1990-10-30
Publication date: 1992-05-06
Also published as: GB9023528D0

Abstract

Packages 1 having a symmetry which does not readily reveal their orientation and more particularly that of their contents have on an outer surface tactile indicia of their orientation and thereby of their contents. The indicia in the form of a grit-containing ink or glue pattern are particularly useful for establishing the orientation of the contents of packages in the dark or in poor light conditions, and by people with visual handicap. The invention is of especial value in establishing which way a condom has been rolled within its package merely by feeling the package and its tactile indicia before the package is opened. Alternatively the invention may be applied to a sterile wound dressing package. <IMAGE>

Description

PACKAGING This invention concerns packaging, and more particularly the packaging of articles to indicate the orientation of the articles within packages.

There are various situations in which it is important or at least desirable to know the orientation of articles within a package so that their orientation is known once they have been removed from the package. This is not a problem where the shape of the package reveals the orientation of its contents, but it can be where the packages have a symmetry which does not reveal the orientation of the contents within.

The packages can be provided with visible indicia of the orientation of their contents so that normally sighted people can tell easily ascertain the orientation in daylight or artificial light. However, such indicia can be useless to visually handicapped people and to normally sighted people opening the packages in poor light or in the dark, Although it is relatively easy to re-orientate an article by visual inspection once it has been removed from its pa#ckage, this can be difficult if not impossible in poor light or for the visually handicapped. One such example is with individual packs of condoms, where each condom is sealed between two heat sealable films to form a pack having outer surfaces which are indistinguishable to the touch.It is essential to know which way the condom has been rolled before it is used, and since even to the normally sighted in good light this can be relatively difficult to ascertain, it is all the more difficult in the dark or poor light.

According to the present invention there is provided a package which to the touch does not readily reveal its orientation and that of its contents, the package having on an outer surface tactile indicia of its orientation.

The present invention can be used with various types of packages, but it is of particular value with pillow shaped packages, for example formed by sealing together two sheets or films of packaging material to form a package symmetrical about the plane of the seal, as is frequently used to pack condoms.

The tactile indicia can be of any desired formation and anywhere on the packages, provided the indicia can be readily detected and they are put on the same surface of all packages of a particular type of packaged article. Thus the indicia can be in the form of stripes, dots or other shapes, and they can be in a regular pattern, for example equally spaced stripes or a chequer pattern. As will be appreciated, the particular configuration of the indicia is usually relatively unimportant provided they can be detected by the touch, but there might be instances where the indicia are also required to also indicate which end of a package is being opened.

Various materials can be used to form the indicia, for example inks which will often have to be applied relative thickly to the packages in order to impart adequate tactility. Improved tactility can be obtained by the inclusion of a particulate material, for example grit, which provides the indicia with a rough surface to aid their detection.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawing, the single figure of which being a perspective view of a package in accordance with the invention.

The drawing shows a perspective view of a package 1 containing a condom. The package 1 is formed in known manner by heat sealing the condom between two heat sealable films 2, only one film being shown, The upper film as shown in the drawing has a regular series of stripes 3 of an ink or glue containing grit printed across its outer surface. The lower film (not shown) is identical to the upper film but does not have stripes or other tactile indicia printed on it.

As will be appreciated, the stripes 3 indicate which surface of the package 1 is uppermost merely by feeling the package, and of course if it is known that condoms within such packages are always packaged a certain way up with respect to the stripes 3, the user will know which way the condom has been rolled merely by feeling the indicia on the surface of the package 1.

The present invention is of particular value in indicating which way up a packaged condom is within its package.

However, it will be appreciated that the present invention has many other uses, for example to indicate which way up a wound dressing is within its sterile pack before the pack is opened.

Claims

1. A package which to the touch does not readily reveal its orientation and that of its contents, the package having on an outer surface thereof tactile indicia of its orientation.

2. A package according to claim 1, wherein the tactile indicia are in the form of a pattern.

3. A package according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the pattern distinguishes ends of the package in addition to which way up the package is.

3. A package according to and of the preceding claims, which is generally pillow shaped.

4. A package according to any of the preceding claims, formed from two layers of a heat sealable material.

5. A package according to and of the preceding claims, containing a condom.

6. A package according to any of the preceding claims, substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawing.