JP2015500774A - Improved blister pack manufacturing device, method of packing in blister pack and resulting blister pack - Google Patents

Abstract

The improved blister pack manufacturing device is positioned inside the blister (30) fed by the forming strip (11), the cover strip (14) and the forming strip (11) supplied by the supply device (16). All of the harmful materials (33) are sealed by a sealing device (18) to produce a blister pack having a desired shape and size. Upstream of the sealing device (18) is a pre-sealing device (17) for continuously obtaining a continuous sealing band (19) adjacent to at least two lateral edges (119) of the blister strip (13). A contained isolation chamber (15) is provided. [Selection] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to an improved blister pack manufacturing apparatus, more precisely, a toxic, harmful, carcinogenic product and more generally a product that is dangerous to humans, animals and the environment, hereinafter collectively referred to as hazardous materials. The present invention relates to a blister pack manufacturing apparatus for packaging what is referred to by the term "."

  The invention also relates to a method for packaging harmful materials in blister packs and blister packs containing the thus obtained harmful materials.

  A blister pack manufacturing apparatus for manufacturing a blister pack having a blister in which the above-mentioned harmful material is introduced and sealed is known.

  There are two types of known blister pack manufacturing equipment, the first type is fully contained in a controlled chamber and the second type is partially enclosed in an isolation chamber. is there.

  These strategies are essential, even when the hazardous material is packaged in capsules, tablets or other means, since the handling of the hazardous material generates a powder that is itself harmful.

  The first type of blister pack manufacturing apparatus has the disadvantage that an operator working inside a controlled chamber needs to wear protective clothing such as protective clothing. These protective clothes include a type that allows autonomous movement and a type that blows continuous air. Which type of protective clothing you choose to use depends on the type of hazardous product you handle in the blister pack manufacturing equipment. This requires high costs, long hours, operator burden, energy waste, powerful decompression systems, complex rooms or facilities that are themselves costly.

  A second type of blister pack manufacturing apparatus is provided with an isolation chamber that surrounds at least a unit that dispenses harmful materials. This known technique eliminates the important problem that the worker has to enter the dispensing unit every time for cleaning and maintenance, for changing the format of the product to be manufactured, or for other work such as replacement. generate.

  WO 02/092439 describes a known type of blister pack manufacturing apparatus.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a blister pack manufacturing apparatus that is simple and not large and can be easily and quickly entered for maintenance work, cleaning, product format change, and the like.

  The Applicant has devised, tested and embodied the present invention to overcome the shortcomings of state-of-the-art devices and to achieve this and other objectives and advantages.

  While the invention is described and characterized in the independent claims, the dependent claims describe other features or major inventive variations of the invention.

  In accordance with the above object, the improved blister pack manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention provides harmful substances between a strip provided with a blister (hereinafter referred to as a blister strip) and a cover or sealing strip for forming the blister pack. And a separation chamber provided upstream of the sealing device. Depending on the type of toxic material that is handled and inserted into the blister pack, this isolation chamber is protected inward and remains decompressed by known systems.

  In an alternative embodiment, the isolation chamber maintains a reduced pressure between 30 Pa and about 100 Pa, depending on the type and characteristics of the powder from which the processed toxic substances can be produced.

  According to the present invention, a pre-sealing device is present in the isolation chamber, as well as at least part of the device for supplying and inserting hazardous substances to be packaged in blisters present in the blister strip.

  This pre-sealing device closes the blister made on the blister strip by applying a cover strip on the blister strip already containing the hazardous material in the blister.

  However, the application of the cover strip only affects two consecutive bands near the lateral and longitudinal edges of the blister strip covered by the cover strip.

  Advantageously, the sealed continuous band is at the end of the longitudinal edge and can be removed later.

  According to a variant of the invention, a pre-sealing band can also be made at an intermediate position between the two lateral edges of the blister strip.

  In this way, the element is actually cylindrical and is created with at least the lateral direction closed to prevent harmful materials from diffusing to the outside. The strip-shaped tubular element is sealed with a known sealing device after leaving the isolation chamber.

  According to a variant, the blister strip is freed of all possible powder present on its surface in the vicinity of the outlet of the isolation chamber.

  When all subsequent operations performed on the sealed blister strip are performed, at least the lateral pre-seal band is removed and the by-products are sent and destroyed or deactivated. Sent.

  According to a variant, it is possible to provide with the pre-sealing device a cleaning system for removing powder from both longitudinal sides of the surface of the band that is equal to or larger than the band formed by pre-sealing.

  These and other features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of preferred embodiments, given by way of non-limiting example with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of an improved blister pack manufacturing apparatus. FIG. 2 is a top view of the improved blister pack manufacturing apparatus of FIG. FIG. 3 is a diagram of a system using a gaseous fluid jet for cleaning the lateral band before pre-sealing. FIG. 4 is a schematic view of a pre-sealing process limited to one side of the blister strip. FIG. 5 shows a means for cleaning the surface of the pre-sealed blister strip at the entrance and exit of the isolation chamber.

  For ease of understanding, the same reference numerals are used in the drawings to identify the same common elements.

  Referring to the accompanying drawings, the improved blister pack manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention is generally designated by the reference numeral 10.

  The blister pack manufacturing apparatus 10 includes a plurality of known apparatuses. For example, the blister pack manufacturing apparatus 10 is introduced into a formable strip 11, a forming apparatus 12 of a blister 30, and a blister 30 formed in the formable strip 11. Supply device 16 for supplying the harmful material 33 for forming the blister strip, sealing device 18, blister pack pre-cutting machine 20, encoding device 21, in this case pre-sealed as described below It consists of a shearing device 22 that removes the lateral band 19 of the object.

  The supply device 16 is placed in the isolation chamber 15 and can be connected to suitable external devices and packaged in a blister 30 created by the forming device 12 on the moldable strip 11 to form the blister strip 13. The hazardous material or hazardous product 33 to be used is supplied.

  In another embodiment, the blister pack manufacturing apparatus 10 is another alternative that is also subjected to reduced pressure to house the supply device 16 that supplies the hazardous material 33 to the isolation chamber 15 only through a known type of supply pipe. An isolation chamber is provided.

  It is also within the scope of the present invention to provide suitable nozzles in the isolation chamber 15 to supply hot or cold liquid and / or gaseous fluids for cleaning and / or drying.

  The isolation chamber 15 has a suction and filter system 24 and a control and regulation system, ie a decompression means 25, to control and regulate the reduced pressure conditions to which the isolation chamber 15 is exposed.

  The shearing device 22 can collect the removed band and coordinate with a safety container 23 that can include a suction and filter system similar to the isolation chamber 15. The safety container 23 can cooperate with a continuous or discontinuous shearing system to remove the band.

  Within the isolation chamber 15 is a pre-sealing device 17 to which the cover strip 14 is supplied.

  The pre-sealing device 17 has two pairs of opposing wheels 29, 129 operating in concert (FIGS. 4 and 5), each wheel in each lateral direction of the combined blister strip 13 and cover strip 14 Sealing one of the two lateral bands of the blister strip 13 joined with the covering strip 14 along the edge 119 results in a sealed longitudinal continuous band 19. One or both pairs of opposing wheels 29, 129 are exposed to pressure toward the other wheel 129, 29 of the pair.

  Thus, on the advancing strip, the two tubular continuous sealed bands 19 present on the longitudinal edges of the combined blister strip 13 and cover strip 14 cause the molded tubular element to It is formed.

  As a result, all the powder deposited on the strip is encapsulated inside the resulting tubular element.

  In an alternative embodiment not shown, each pair of opposing wheels 29, 129 is positioned on and slides on strips 13, 14 in the form of a single wheel and a fixed sealing member, such as a tile or plate. Can be replaced with something. In yet another alternative embodiment, not shown, each pair of opposing wheels 29, 129 is a fixed guide provided under the strips 13, 14 on which the strips 13, 14 slide. In addition, a sealing member fixed to a single wheel, for example, a tile-like member provided on the strips 13 and 14 can be used.

  In the vicinity of the outlet from the isolation chamber 15 (ie, just before or connected to the outlet), the fluid jet cleans the surface of the combined and pre-sealed strip so that it adheres to the strip attached inside the isolation chamber 15. Remove the powder present on the surface.

  In the example shown in FIG. 5, in conjunction with an outlet wall 115 having an appropriate protective screen in the isolation chamber 15, the cleaning means comprising nozzles 26-34 in this case is a fluid jet (air, inert gas or particulate gas). To clean the surface and release the powder inside the isolation chamber 15.

  It is also within the scope of the present invention to provide a suction means for sucking all powder present on the surface of the blister strip 13 combined with the harmful substance 33 pre-sealed by the cover strip 14.

  In the example shown in FIG. 3, a jet is supplied to the fluid immediately in front of the pre-sealing device, in cooperation with a line 27 that removes the sealed continuous band 19 on each longitudinal side. There is a cleaning means 35 for removing the deposited powder of harmful material from the surface of the edge 119.

  It is also within the scope of the present invention to clean the area of the blister strip 13 containing the hazardous material 33 in which the pre-sealed band is formed by suction means.

  Obviously, the inlet and outlet of the isolation chamber 15 are constructed and configured in a known manner so that there is no risk of the powder produced in the isolation chamber 15 leaking out.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 5, means for supplying the gaseous fluids 26 and 34 can be provided inside the isolation chamber 15.

  Also, the cleaning device supplying the gaseous fluid 35 (FIG. 3) can be replaced by a fixed or rotating brush system.

  As described so far, parts can be deformed and / or added to the blister pack manufacturing apparatus, the method of packing in the blister pack and the resulting blister pack without departing from the scope of the present invention. Is clear.

  Although the present invention has been described with reference to several specific embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize many others of blister pack manufacturing apparatus and methods having all of the features recited in the claims and the scope of protection formed thereby. It is clear that an equivalent form of can be obtained.

Claims (14)

A blister of the desired shape and dimensions using a forming strip (11) for forming a blister strip (13) provided with a blister (30), a covering strip (14) and a hazardous material (33) An improved blister pack manufacturing apparatus capable of manufacturing a pack,
A supply device (16) for supplying and positioning the harmful material (33) inside the blister (30) and a seal for sealing the blister strip (13) with the cover strip (14) Device (18),
Upstream of the sealing device (18) is provided an isolation chamber (15) in which the hazardous material (33) is supplied and distributed and the cover strip (14) is affixed to the blister strip (13). ,
The isolation chamber (15) is continuously adjacent to at least two lateral edges (119) of the combination of the blister strip (13) containing the harmful material (33) and the cover strip (14). An improved blister pack manufacturing apparatus, comprising at least one pre-sealing device (17) configured to continuously obtain a band (19) sealed to the surface. Decompression means (24) is provided for maintaining the isolation chamber (15) in a decompressed state;
2. The improved blister pack manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the magnitude of the reduced pressure is between 30 Pa and 100 Pa in relation to the shape and characteristics of the powder produced from the harmful material (33).   The improved blister pack manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the supply device (16) is at least partially present in the isolation chamber (15).   The improved blister pack manufacturing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein an inlet and an outlet of the isolation chamber (15) are protected.   5. A cleaning means (35) for at least the surface of said pre-sealed blister strip (13) in intimate contact with a pre-sealing band (19). The improved blister pack manufacturing apparatus of any one of Claims.   6. The improved blister pack manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising cleaning means (26, 34) for the external surface of the pre-sealed strip.   7. The sealing device according to claim 1, further comprising a sealing unit (18) provided after the exit of the pre-sealed strip from the isolation chamber (15). Improved blister pack manufacturing equipment   3. A shearing device (22) for removing at least the pre-sealed transverse band (19), the shearing device (22) being able to cooperate with a safety container (23). 8. The improved blister pack manufacturing apparatus according to any one of 7 above. A method for obtaining a blister pack containing a hazardous material (33) comprising:
After inserting the harmful material into the blister (30) made in the molding strip (11), a cover strip (14) is provided in the isolation chamber (15) for pre-sealing and the blister strip (13) ) And the cover strip (14) combination, a continuous longitudinal sealing band (19) is obtained which is continuous at least close to the longitudinal edge.   10. Method according to claim 9, characterized in that at the outlet of the isolation chamber (15) the pre-sealed blister strip (13) is completely sealed by a sealing unit (18). The pre-sealed band (19) is separated by a shearing device (22);
11. Method according to claim 9 or 10, characterized in that the pre-sealed band (19) can be sent to a safety container (23).   In coordination with the outlet from the isolation chamber (15), the harmful material (33) from the outer surface of the combination of blister strip (13) and cover strip (14) with a continuous pre-seal band (19). 12. The process according to any one of claims 9 to 11, characterized in that the powdery residue of   13. At least the longitudinal region of the blister strip (13) to be pre-sealed is cleaned immediately before the pre-sealing operation with the cover strip (14). The method according to claim 1. A strip containing one or more intermediate blister packs to obtain one or more final blister packs containing harmful material (33) contained in the blister (30),
Provided with a continuous sealing band (19) at least proximate to at least its two lateral edges (119) formed by pre-sealing between the blister pack (13) and the covering strip (14); Strip comprising the blister strip (13) combined with a cover strip (14).

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