GB2275461A - Label with concealed panel - Google Patents

Abstract

A label construction (10) for use in clinical trials is disclosed which comprises a label sheet (11) releasably mounted on a carrier (19). In use, the label sheet (11) is folded such that a concealed panel (16) of the sheet is interposed between panels (17, 14) of the sheet and is sealed by adhesive in this position to prevent access to the concealed panel (16) without breaking the adhesive seal. The label can be removed from the carrier (19) and applied to a container containing a course of active drugs or placebos with information relating to the contents of the container concealed. <IMAGE>

Description

LABEL CONSTRUCTION This invention relates to a label construction and more particularly to a label construction for use in clinical tests.

In clinical tests for pharmaceutical products, it is usual for a test sample of people, say 100 persons, to be issued with a course of active drug or placebos, for example 50 persons issued active drugs and 50 persons issued placebos in order to monitor and assess accurately the effects of the active drug under test. A record is normally kept of whether each person in the sample has been issued with a course of active drug or a placebo and this record quite commonly takes the form of an envelope with a person's name on having information inside identifying whether such person has been issued with a course of active drug or a placebo.

Occasionally when active drugs or placebos are taken by persons in the clinical tests an adverse reaction can take place which may lead to the presentation of unpleasant or serious symptoms in such persons. It will be realised that in these circumstances in order to provide a quick and effective treatment for these symptoms it is necessary to know whether that person has taken the active drug or placebo. Of course, searching through a large number of envelopes as mentioned above to ascertain whether the person has taken active drug or placebo is unsatisfactory due to the time it takes to identify the particular person concerned.

It has been realised by the present applicants that if a label construction for securing to a container having the course of active drug or placebo therein can be provided, and which has a part which can be concealed prior to affixing to the container, yet which could be accessed in an emergency such as is described above, any necessary treatment could be administered very quickly and efficiently.

It is an object of the present invention to provide such a label construction.

Thus in accordance with the present invention therefore there is provided a label construction comprising a label sheet removably carried on a carrier, said label sheet being capable of being folded whereby a portion thereof can be disposed in a position interposed between parts of a remaining portion so as to be concealed thereby and said sheet being secured in said folded disposition by securing means such that access to said concealed portion is impossible without breaking said securing means.

With this arrangement it is possible to provide a label construction which is capable of concealing relevant information printed on the sheet in a readily accessible manner.

Preferably said label sheet is folded about at least two axes to conceal said portion thereof. Preferably said securing means is an adhesive material and preferably a relatively strong adhesive.

Preferably said label sheet is releasably carried on said carrier by way of a preferentially separating adhesive which, on separation of the sheet from the carrier, remains on the sheet.

Preferably said sheet is secured in said folded disposition in which said portion is concealed by way of said preferentially separating adhesive on said sheet.

The label sheet may bear any desired printed matter, but conveniently one part of the remaining portion thereof bears information identifying how to gain access to the concealed portion and the concealed portion bears information relating to the active drug or placebo.

Furthermore, the remaining portions of the sheet which overlie said reduced size portion may be printed so as to be of a dark colour thereby preventing any printed matter on said reduced size portion being visible for reading through said overlying parts.

Also, since the label sheet is supplied on its carrier, it is possible to apply printed matter to said label sheet before folding and such material may be applied by a suitable printer, for example high definition laser printer.

The invention will now be described further by way of example only and with reference to the accompanying drawing, the single figure of which shows a plan view of one form of label construction according to the present invention.

The label construction 10 comprises a label sheet 11, divided up into a back panel 12, side panel 13, front panel 14, concealed panel 16, concealing panel 17 and a securing flap 18, carried on a release carrier 19. The sheet 11 is bonded to the carrier 19 by way of a preferentially separating adhesive layer (not shown) which preferentially separates from the carrier 19 and remains on a reverse side 21 of the sheet 11 when the sheet is removed from the carrier 19.

The construction has perforations along axes A-E so as to allow the sheet to be folded about, and the carrier divided along, these axes for a purpose to be described hereinafter.

In use, before a person is issued with a course of active drugs or placebos for taking part in a clinical test, information relating to the active drugs or placebo is printed onto the concealed panel by way of a suitable printer, for example a laser printer. The carrier sheet 19 is then removed from behind the front panel 14, concealed panel 16 and securing flap 18 by division of the carrier between axes B and D and beyond axis E, leaving the adhesive layer exposed on reverse sides of these parts of the sheet 11. The sheet 11 is then folded about axis C until the concealed portion 16 is secured to the reverse side of the front panel 14 by way of the exposed adhesive layers. The concealing portion 17 is then folded about axis D and the flap is folded about axis E into contact with the reverse of the front panel 14 and is secured thereto thereby concealing the concealed portion 16 by way of the adhesive layer on the flap 18 and the adhesive layer on the reverse of the front panel 14. Accordingly, it will be realised that when the label has been formed in this way, the concealed portion 16 of the sheet 11 is not visible and is securely retained in its concealed position by way of the adhesive. Thus, if any attempt is made to tamper with the label to gain access to the information on the concealed panel of the sheet, this will be readily apparent. However, in the event of an emergency or other necessity, it is possible to gain access to the concealed panel 16 by cutting the label along axis C and separating the concealing panel 17 from the front panel 14.

The label sheet 11 is then attached to the container containing the active drug or placebo (not shown) by removal of the release carrier 19 from the concealing panel 17, back and side panels 12, 13 and securing it to the container and the container with the course of active drug or placebo is issued to a person for use in the test.

Alternatively, if desired, a part of the label sheet 11 can be attached to the container and a part of the label sheet 11 attached to another medium, e.g. patients records. Thus parts 12, 13 or 14, 16, 17, 18 of the label sheet 11 can be secured respectively to the container or patient records.

Furthermore, it is also possible for only a portion of the label sheet 11 to be attached to the container, the remainder of the label sheet remaining secured to its carrier and projecting freely akin to a flag from the container. Thus, for example, parts 12, 13 of the label sheet 11 can be secured to the container and parts 14, 16, 17, 18 can remain on the carrier 19 and project freely therefrom.

Of course, it will be realised that these variations are facilitated by the presence of the perforations between the parts of the label sheet 11 and associated carrier 19.

Accordingly, it will be readily realised that the label construction of the present invention offers significant advantages over previously used arrangements for concealing relevant information relating to whether persons are taking placebo or active drugs in a clinical test.

It is of course to be understood that the invention is not intended to be restricted to the details of the above embodiment which are described by way of example only.

Claims (11)

1. A label construction comprising a label sheet removably carried on a carrier, said label sheet being capable of being folded whereby a portion thereof can be disposed in a position interposed between parts of a remaining portion so as to be concealed thereby and said sheet being secured in said folded disposition by securing means such that access to said concealed portion is impossible without breaking said securing means.

2. A label construction according to claim 1 wherein the label sheet is folded about at least two axes to conceal said portion thereof.

3. A label construction according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein said securing means comprises a relatively strong adhesives material.

4. A label construction according to any one of claims 1 to 3 wherein said label sheet is releasably carried on said carrier by way of a preferentially separating adhesives material which, on separation of the sheet from the carrier, remains in the sheet.

5. A label construction according to claim 4 wherein said sheet is secured in said folded disposition in which said portion is concealed by way of said preferentially separating adhesives material on said sheet.

6. A label construction according to any one of claims 1 to 5 wherein said label sheet bears printed matter.

7. A label construction according to claim 6 wherein one part of the remaining portion of the label sheet bears information identifying how to gain access to the concealed portion and the concealed portion bears information relating to the active drug or placebo.

8. A label construction according to any one of claims 1 to 7 wherein the remaining portions of the label sheet which overlie said concealed portion are printed so as to be of a dark colour thereby preventing any printed matter on said concealed portion being visible for reading through said overlying parts.

9. A label construction according to any of claims 1 to 8 wherein printed matter is applied to the label sheet before folding.

10. A label construction according to claim 1 wherein perforations are provided which define axes along which said sheet can be folded and said carrier divided.

11. A label construction according to any preceding claim substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawing.

11. A label construction according to any preceding claim substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawing.

Amendments to the claims have been filed as follows 1. A label construction comprising a label sheet removably carried on a carrier, said label sheet being capable of being folded whereby a portion thereof can be disposed in a position interposed between parts of a remaining portion so as to be concealed thereby and said sheet being secured in said folded disposition prior to application of said label sheet to an article by securing means such that access to said concealed portion is impossible without breaking said securing means 2. A label construction according to claim 1 wherein the label sheet is folded about at least two axes to conceal said portion thereof.

3. A label construction according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein said securing means comprises a relatively strong adhesives material.

4. A label construction according to any one of claims 1 to 3 wherein said label sheet is releasably carried on said carrier by way of a preferentially separating adhesives material which, on separation of the sheet from the carrier, remains in the sheet.

5. A label construction according to claim 4 wherein said sheet is secured in said folded disposition in which said portion is concealed by way of said preferentially separating adhesives material on said sheet.

6. A label construction according to any one of claims 1 to 5 wherein said label sheet bears printed matter.

7. A label construction according to claim 6 wherein one part of the remaining portion of the label sheet bears information identifying how to gain access to the concealed portion and the concealed portion bears information relating to the active drug or placebo.

8. A label construction according to any one of claims 1 to 7 wherein the remaining portions of the label sheet which overlie said concealed portion are printed so as to be of a dark colour thereby preventing any printed matter on said concealed portion being visible for reading through said overlying parts.

9. A label construction according to any of claims 1 to 8 wherein printed matter is applied to the label sheet before folding.

10. A label construction according to claim 1 wherein perforations are provided which define axes along which said sheet can be folded and said carrier divided.