GB2506429A

GB2506429A - Window arrangement for a packaged product

Info

Publication number: GB2506429A
Application number: GB201217468A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Alan Joseph Bell
Original assignee: Wessex Tech Opto Electronic Products Ltd
Current assignee: Wessex Tech Opto Electronic Products Ltd
Priority date: 2012-09-29
Filing date: 2012-09-29
Publication date: 2014-04-02
Also published as: GB201217468D0

Abstract

A packaged product, such as pharmaceutical pills or liquids, whereby the package comprises an intimate packaging, such as a bottle or blister pack, surrounding the product and having a security/authenticity mark 2 on its exterior. At least one outer packaging layer 1 wholly or partly surrounding the product and having at least one window 3 that allows the enclosed security/authenticity mark 2, such as a coded to be viewed. The inner face of outer packaging layer 1 contains windows that are diffusely highly reflective and may include an area of high whiteness. The security marking may comprise a coded marking area. Also disclosed is an arrangement (figures 2 & 4) where the intimate packaging bearing the security marking 12 protrudes through an aperture 5 in the outer packaging 1.

Description

PACKAGING SECURITY MARKED ITEMS

This invention relates to the packaging of security marked items. It is of particular value in connection with the packaging of pharmaceutical products, but is of broad application in any area where a packaged product needs to be security checked, and the security mark is coded.

In many fields legitimate manufacture is threatened by counterfeit manufacture, and particularly in areas where profit margins can be very high, substantial efforts can be made by counterfeiters to render the counterfeit products visually indistinguishable from the genuine. One approach adopted by genuine manufacturers to combat counterfeiting is to mark the genuine goods in a way which enables them to be identified and distinguished. Such markings are called "security markings" for the purpose of this description, and they may be applied in numerous different ways to a wide variety of products. Depending upon the particular style of security marking adopted, a security mark may be unique to a single manufactured item, or it may be associated with a particular batch or run of manufactured items or materials.

Some types of security marking are technically complex and require special reading or detection equipment to "read" them. Such an approach is justified in respect of certain products, but is rarely convenient. What is considerably more convenient is to provide a visually readable identifiable security code or the like which can be identified with a particular product, and which in some cases is uniquely identified with a specific item. A typical example of the latter is the application of a serial number to an item manufactured in quantity.

Counterfeit items may well bear an apparent serial number which may enable their provenance to be checked by reference to the manufacturer, but this is not particularly practical, not least when very large quantities of individual products are manufactured, for example pharmaceutical or agro-chemical products.

Many products after manufacture are packaged for transport and often also to assist in preserving them until they are used. There may be several successive "layers" of packaging surrounding any particular item. For example a pharmaceutical product such as a pill or liquid preparation may have a suitable packaging immediately surrounding it, referred to herein as the "intimate" packaging of the product, for example a blister pack or phial, which is then in turn packaged in some form of box packaging, for example a folded card box, very often together with ancillary material such as usage instructions, warning notices and details of manufacture and product licence and the like. Such card box packages may then be themselves assembled in suitable arrays and subjected to further overall packaging, for example by applying some form of plastic shrink-wrap cover which acts to hold the array together or by being assembled in a corrugated cardboard box. Particularly in the case of multiply packaged items i.e. items which have more than one "layer" of packaging between the intimate packaging surrounding the specific product and the outside world, checking security markings on the intimate packaging is often impractical.

The present invention applies to product packaging where the intimate packaging surrounding the product bears a security marking enabling the authenticity of the product itself to be checked.

In accordance with a first feature of the present invention, the intimately packaged item is in turn packaged in one or more outer packaging layers having respectively one or more windows enabling the security marking applied to the intimate packaging to be seen.

Since the security marking can be seen, it can be checked. This can be done with the human eye, but, very often, it may be desirable to use appropriate imaging apparatus to view the security marking, particularly if it consists of or includes a coded marking area.

Although the human eye can distinguish human readable markings without too much difficulty, machine readable markings present problems, in particular of securing an adequate image which can be processed or simply securely recorded. Not only must the intensity of illumination of the security marking be sufficient, but, in addition, the intensity of illumination should not vary overmuch across the marking since this can give rise to reading difficulties. A further problem arises in the case where the security marking is applied to a shiny surface, because it is then important to illuminate it if imaging apparatus is used by way of a beam of light transmitted along an axis different from the optical axis of the imaging device. If this precaution is not observed, the specular reflection from the shiny surface can overwhelm the image and make recording or reading the security marking impossible.

These problems are exacerbated if the window or windows in the one or more outer packaging layers are distanced from the security marking on the packaged item itself.

We have found that machine imaging difficulties can be reduced or in some cases overcome entirely by ensuring that the inner face or faces of the packaging layers containing the windows are diffusely highly reflective. Put another way, surrounding each window on the inside of the packaging should be an area of high whiteness. By placing a diffuse-reflecting surface around the inside of the or each window, the evenness of illumination of the security marking on the packaged item itself is materially improved.

In accordance with a second feature of the present invention, the intimately packaged item is in turn packaged in one or more outer packaging layers having respectively one or more apertures therein through which part of the intimate packaging bearing a security marking may protrude, so enabling the security marking applied to the intimate packaging to be seen and its authenticity checked.

By operating in accordance with either of these approaches, the security marking on the intimate packaging can be checked without disturbing any of the outer packaging, and this has an additional advantage that the outer packaging does not need to repeat any security marking that may have been applied to the intimate packaging.

The following examples will show how the present invention can be put into practice.

Examrile 1: Pharmaceutical rill nackaginci.

A standard method of presentation of pharmaceutical pills is the blister pack.

This consists of a plastics sheet having a number of depressions moulded into it, usually between 6 and 20 depressions, into each one of which a pill is placed. A cover sheet, usually of a rupturable aluminium or like foil is then applied across the whole of the plastics sheet to seal each pill in its own respective depression. Along a portion of the sheet a security marking can be applied, usually simply by printing a coded marking using an ink or similar material which adheres firmly to the plastics sheet. If desired, the security marking may be applied during the filling of the blister packs before lamination of the cover sheet and to the side of the plastics sheet which will be covered by the cover sheet. The marking is then sealed in place in the blister pack but is still readable through the plastics sheet provided this is transparent. The marking is conveniently applied along one edge of the usually rectangular blister pack.

In accordance with one way of putting the invention into practice, each blister pack with a security marking applied thereto is placed in a card box type package provided with a window through which the security marking may be seen.

An example of this is diagrammatically illustrated in Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings which shows a stylised box 1 having a cut-away corner to enable the contents of the box, two blister cards each containing twelve pills, to be seen.

As shown in Figure 1, each blister card carries a coded security marking 2 which is visible through the cut away corner of the box 1 and a slot 3 extending from the corner cut-away. While it is entirely possible to configure a box in real terms as diagrammatically shown in Figure 1, normally the roughly quadrant shaped cut away corner would not be cut away but the elongate slot 3 would be of sufficient length so as to enable the entire security marking 2 to be visible, and thus constitute a window in the outer packaging, i.e. the cardboard box surrounding the blister packs which in turn surround the tablets themselves. This is shown in Figure 3 of the accompanying drawings. The blister packs need to be staggered if it is desired to enable the markings on both to be visible through the window. This can be achieved by any suitable means, such as configuring the box with internal sections to hold the two cards staggered, or assembling them with a peel-off glue bead into a staggered stack of two items before insertion into the box or before the box is folded and glued around the stack..

An alternative approach is shown in Figures 2 and 4 where the security markings on the blister packs are formed on the ends of the blister packs and those ends are arranged to be visible from the outside of the package by having the ends project through slots 5 in the cardboard carton 1 or the like which surrounds the two blister packs. The slots 5 are spaced far enough apart to enable the security markings to be read on both cards.

The security markings may be applied in any convenient way and may be of any particular type. The invention is of particular value when used in conjunction with security marking systems of the type described in British patent applications numbers 1107191.7 and 1116095.9.

Example 2: Whiskey

It is common practice, particularly for high value whiskeys which have been matured for a considerable time and which accordingly attract high prices, to provide an outer package surrounding a bottle carrying a label. The outer package may take the form of generally rectangular card box or a cylindrical cardboard canister, very often having a fixed base and a press in lid.

In accordance with the invention, the card box or cylindrical canister has a window in its wall which is arranged to be positioned relative to the security marking on the label on the bottle so that when the bottle is inserted in the box or canister, the security marking is visible and accordingly the security marking can be checked without having to open the box or canister, which may very often be sealed with a suitable stick-on seal which is not "resealable".

Again the preferred form of security marking is the type described in the two British patent applications referred to above.

Claims

CLAIMS1. A packaged product consisting of the product itself, intimate packaging surrounding the product, a security marking located on the exterior of the intimate packaging enabling the authenticity of the product itself to be checked, and one or more outer packaging layers wholly or partly surrounding the intimately packaged product, the outer packaging layer(s) having respectively one or more windows enabling the security marking applied to the intimate packaging to be seen.
2. A packaged product according to claim 1 wherein the inner face or faces of the outer packaging layers containing the windows are diffusely highly reflective.
3. A packaged product according to claim 1 wherein surrounding each window on the inside of the outer packaging layers is an area of high whiteness.
4. A packaged product according to any one of claims 1 to 3 wherein the intimately packaged product is a blister card or pack of pills bearing a security marking on the exterior surface thereof.
5. A packaged product according to claim 4 wherein the intimately packaged product is a blister pack containing pharmaceutical pills and the security marking is printed along one edge of the pack.
6. A packaged product according to any one of claims I to 3 wherein the intimately packaged product is a liquid in a bottle or like container on which, or on a label attached to which, the security marking is printed.
7. A packaged product according to any one of claims 1 to 6 wherein the security marking consists of or includes a coded marking area.
8. A packaged product consisting of the product itself, intimate packaging surrounding the product, a security marking located on the exterior of the intimate packaging enabling the authenticity of the product itself to be checked and one or more outer packaging layers partially surrounding the intimately packaged product having respectively one or more apertures therein through which part of the intimate packaging bearing the security marking may protrude, so enabling the security marking applied to the intimate packaging to be seen and its authenticity checked.
9. A packaged product according to claim 8 wherein the intimately packaged product is a blister card or pack of pills bearing a security marking on the exterior surface thereof.
10. A packaged product according to claim 9 wherein the intimately packaged product is a blister pack containing pharmaceutical pills and the security marking is printed along one edge of the pack.
11. A packaged product according to claim 8 wherein the intimately packaged product is a liquid in a bottle or like container on which, or on a label attached to which, the security marking is printed.
12. A packaged product according to any one of claims 8 to 11 wherein the security marking consists of or includes a coded marking area.