WO1994006706A1

WO1994006706A1 - Pack designed to hold and individually dispense pills contained in a holder

Info

Publication number: WO1994006706A1
Application number: PCT/DE1993/000829
Authority: WO
Inventors: Peter Kern; Roland Schindhelm; Johannes Solf
Original assignee: Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der angewandten Forschung e.V.
Priority date: 1992-09-11
Filing date: 1993-09-08
Publication date: 1994-03-31
Also published as: FI950958A0; EP0659156B1; CA2142365A1; NO950899D0; JPH08501048A; EP0659156A1; DE59302941D1; FI950958A; DE4230453C1; NO950899L

Abstract

The pack proposed has a bottom element (1) which accommodates the pill-holder and which has integral dispenser openings (10) sized and spaced to match the size and spacing of the pills in the holder. The pack also has a rotatable top element (2) designed to be fitted over the bottom element (1) and having a pill ejector (11). In order to ensure that a pack of this kind is simple and safe to handle and reliable in operation, and prevents the drugs it contains from being damaged, either the bottom or the top element has moulded undulating arrestor marks (4) which extend in a circle round the pack and in which a flexible tongue (3) attached to the other element opposite the undulating arrestor marks engages.

Description

Container for storing and dispensing single-coated tablets

The invention relates to a container for the storage and individual dispensing of coated tablets held in ring-shaped carriers according to the preamble of patent claim 1.

From the generic DE 39 22 763 forming the preamble, a container for storing and dispensing solid pharmaceutical forms sealed in blisters is known. The blisters, which are also circular, are placed on the annular lower part and pressed against the lower part with part of the upper part designed as a lid. The upper and lower part of the container are held with a core protruding from the base of the lower part, onto which a sleeve integrated in the upper part can be attached. Additional guidance is provided by the design of the outer surface of the upper and lower part reached. The parting line between the upper and lower part is located in the middle of the outer surface of the container. Upper and lower part are held in the desired position to each other in that the upper part of the core attached to the lower part forms a snap connection with bulges by bulges and the outer edge of the upper and lower part is shaped such that mutual guidance given is.

With this configuration, it is difficult to open the container when a blister needs to be replaced. Older, frail or sick people in particular have problems opening it easily, since when they attack the outer lateral surfaces, the surface that can be used by the fingers as a contact surface is limited by the parting line running in the middle. A tilting which is possible in this embodiment of the container has a particularly obstructive effect and the force required to open the container increases very greatly.

With these difficulties, it can happen that when the container is opened, the extractor connected to the upper part is attacked and the latter is damaged by the large forces required, so that the entire container can no longer be used in its planned function.

For a regular cyclical intake there is an indicator for the corresponding day of the week on the container. By turning the top part, a ring-shaped date marking is painted over and it appears in a window in the top part each the name of a day of the week. If this symbol is clearly recognizable, the ejector is located directly above an ejection opening which is made in the bottom of the lower part and the medicament form which is appropriately positioned in the blister

(Tablets, coated tablets, capsules) is pressed out of the blister pack through the ejection opening using the ejector. In order to easily push out such a drug held in a blister without requiring a great deal of force, an exact positioning of the pusher relative to the drug and the ejection opening is indispensable. The only tool the user has available for this is the already mentioned window with the weekday display. If the position of the pusher differs only insignificantly with respect to the medicinal product, greater forces may be required and, in a special case, it may even happen that capsule-shaped or capsule-containing medicinal products are damaged by the cantilever as a result of tilting and in extreme cases become unusable as a result .

For safety reasons, the medicinal products must be arranged on the blister at a certain minimum distance in order to prevent that only one ration can be removed from the container at a time.

Based on these disadvantages, it is therefore an object of the invention to provide a container for the storage and individual dispensing of coated tablets or other forms of pharmaceuticals which is simple, safe and reliable to use and which prevents injuries and damage to the pharmaceuticals . According to the invention, this object is achieved by the features mentioned in the characterizing part of patent claim 1. Advantageous refinements and developments of the container according to the invention result from the features mentioned in the subclaims.

The container, which essentially consists of a lower and an upper part and with which a carrier holding dragees or other suitable pharmaceutical forms is held in a defined position, makes it easy to replace an empty carrier with a full carrier.

After the upper part has been plugged onto the lower part and at least one latching tongue fastened to the upper part has snapped into a latching lug fastened to the lower part, which is part of a hub formed in the center of the lower part, both parts are held securely against one another and can be easily moved against one another be twisted.

Due to the fact that there are shaft-shaped detent marks either in the upper or in the lower part, into which a resilient tongue attached to the opposite part engages in the assembled position, the upper and lower part of the container can only be rotated step-by-step from detent mark to detent mark. The spacing of the individual detent marks corresponds to the distances at which the dragées are arranged on the carrier, so that after the tongue has latched into a detent mark it is ensured that another resilient tongue, the so-called dragée pusher, directly is arranged above a dispensing opening made in the lower part. Located between dragee ejectors and dispensing opening, another dragee is pressed out of the carrier when the dragee ejector is pressed and leaves the container through the dispensing opening.

By further turning the upper part relative to the lower part, the resilient tongue moves into the following catch mark and the dragee ejector is thus positioned exactly over the next dragee and the corresponding dispensing opening, so that neither an increased expenditure of force when pushing out Damage due to improper use of the medicinal products is still necessary.

It is particularly advantageous if the waveform of the locking marks is not designed in the form of a harmonic oscillation, but the rising and falling sides of the locking mark are designed with different rises. If the increase in the desired direction of rotation of the upper part is significantly less than in the opposite direction, then rotation in the reverse direction is excluded.

It is particularly favorable to provide the detent marks on the lower part and the resilient ones engaging in them

Tongue on the upper part. The locking marks can be formed radially in the outer direction as well as an integral part of the base of the lower part. In both cases, however, it is worth noting that no undulating components of the lower part protrude beyond the upper part designed as a cover, and injuries are thereby prevented during rotation. In particular in the case of medicinal products to be taken cyclically, it is advantageous to make markings, such as the corresponding weekday, on the lower part exactly according to the position of a dispensing opening. The dragee ejector, which is an integral part of the upper part, can be designed as an indicator and can point, for example, in the direction of the day of the week marking. These markings can also be attached to the area of the lower part not covered by the upper part. This offers the advantage, for example, that such markings can be exchanged if a different intake cycle is required for corresponding medicaments. In this case, a self-adhesive film provided with the corresponding marking can be stuck onto the corresponding area of the lower part.

As a rule, blisters are used as carriers for receiving drages, in which the dragees are held between layers of different materials. So far, mainly plastics, aluminum foils or paper have been used. These round or square, flat supports have disadvantages when disposed of if they are assembled from several components and these have to be disposed of separately. In addition, a certain proportion of carrier material is required, which only serves to keep the individual medicaments (coated tablets) at a certain distance from one another and to securely position and fix the carrier in the container.

However, if the container according to the invention is provided with ring-shaped retaining webs, between which the dispensing openings are arranged, chain-shaped Ge coated tablets can be used. These coated tablets hold the individual coated tablets in a common tube that protects them from damage and moisture from the outside and keeps them at a certain distance from each other. By some measure

This hose can be inserted elastic between the ring-shaped holding webs and the individual dragées are held in an exact position by the holding webs having openings at the dispensing openings which prevent the

Prevent coated tablets outside the area of the dispensing openings. The use of these hoses as a carrier element reduces the use of material and only one material component is used.

The invention will be described in more detail below with the aid of exemplary embodiments. Show it:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of an inventive

Container; 2 shows the top view in partial section; 3 shows the associated side view; Fig. 4 is a side view in section, and Fig. 5 shows an embodiment of the invention

Container in a cut side view.

The embodiment of a container according to the invention shown in FIG. 1 and recognizable in plan view essentially consists of two parts which can be plugged together, a lower part 1 and an upper part 2. Both parts can be rotated relative to one another in accordance with the arrows shown . On the lower part 1 are the existing on the carrier 12 Dragees or other pharmaceutical forms incorporated in the number of matching wavy locking marks 4. A locking against undesired twisting of these two parts is provided with a resilient tongue which cannot be seen in this illustration and which is attached to the upper part 2 and engages in a detent mark 4. When the lower part 1 is rotated relative to the upper part 2, this resilient tongue 3 slides along the slideway of the detent marks 4 into the detent mark adjacent in the direction of rotation and is held again in this. That further turning in only one direction of rotation is possible because the waveform of the locking marks is provided with different rises. The rise of the waves in the direction of rotation is much smaller than in the opposite direction.

After inserting the carrier, which cannot be seen in this illustration, the dragee ejector 11 integrated in the upper part is brought into a position corresponding to the marking applied on the outer edge 8 of the lower part 1. This dragee ejector 11 thus points precisely to the start marking marked with a dot on the carrier 12. This start marking is located on a recess in the carrier 12 which, in the case of a medicament to be administered daily, is inserted into the stop mark of the corresponding day of the week. at which the intake is to start, can be inserted.

The cover-shaped upper part 2 is slit twice, and the area between the slits forms the dragee ejector 11, which in this form does not protrude beyond the outer dimensions of the container. The material used for the upper part 2 must be one be elastic to a certain extent, so that pressing in the dragee ejector 11 in the direction of the lower part 2 is possible. When the dragee ejector 11 is pressed in, a dragee positioned in the carrier 12 directly below the dragee ejector 11, which is received as a carrier 12 in a generally circular blister, is pushed out.

In the sectional view according to FIG. 2 it can be seen that in each case one discharge opening 10 coincides with a latching tongue 4 in the same radial direction.

With cyclical medicines, it is often important to start taking a specific day of the week or time. Taking this fact into account, there is a marking tongue 15 on the carrier 12 in the form of a blister, which can be inserted into the specific stop mark and which corresponds to the desired date, which can be a specific day of the week or a specific time. This ensures that the start of the intake is clearly defined.

After the corresponding dragee has been removed from the container by means of the dragee ejector 11, safe transport can take place without the risk of damaging the remaining medicaments contained in the carrier 12. Only before the next ingestion began should the upper part 2 be rotated into the next detent mark 4 and the corresponding dragee removed from the container and made available for ingestion. To change the emptied carrier 12, the upper part 2 is removed from the lower part 1. In order to facilitate this, both parts are provided with different outside diameters, so that there is a corresponding space on the area 8 of the lower part 1 for applying the corresponding markings. In addition, the thickness of the lower part 1 is significantly less than that of the upper part 2, so that the ergonomic conditions are favorable for opening the container. In addition, one or more interventions 16 can be present on the outer lateral surface of the upper part 2 (FIG. 3). Corresponding engravings are provided on both outer lateral surfaces for problem-free twisting of the lower and upper part 1, 2.

The sectional side view (Fig. 4) shows how the upper part 2 is held on the lower part 1. For this purpose, an annular hub 6 projects over the base surface of the lower part 1 about its central axis. On this hub 6 there is a circumferential locking lug 5. The locking lug 5 has a larger outer diameter than the rest of the hub 6. On the upper part 2 there is at least one locking tongue 7 at a distance which allows that when the

Upper part 2 on the lower part 1, the part of the latching tongue 7 drawn in in the direction of the latching noses 5, and this securely holds due to the abutting surfaces of the latching nose 5 and the latching tongue 7 lying against one another. After positive engagement of both elements, an axial displacement is only possible with great effort to open the container, but rotation about the longitudinal axis of the container can be done in a simple manner and is only achieved by engaging the resilient tongue in the locking marks hindered, as has already been described. The upper part 2 holds with its outer end faces of the lateral surfaces the support 12 resting on the base of the lower part 1. The support 12 has in its inner region a circular opening which is at least so large that the support can be easily inserted into the lower part the locking lugs 5 can be placed.

When the filled carrier 12 is inserted, a dragee is pressed out by pressing the dragee ejector 11 in the direction of a dragee held in the carrier 12. The coated tablet is pressed through the film of the carrier 12 lying on the base of the lower part 1 and passes out of the container through the corresponding dispensing opening 10. For this purpose the dragee ejector 11 has an ejector nose 17 which is directed into the interior of the container and which is moved towards the draee when the dragee ejector 11 is pressed in.

In another embodiment shown in FIG. 5, blisters are not used as carriers 12, but chain-like carriers are used, in which the coated tablets are accommodated in tubes. These bendable hoses are inserted into the lower part 1 and held in a defined position in this by annular holding webs 9. The holding webs 9 have recesses in the area of the dispensing openings 10, so that one dragee is held precisely above one dispensing opening. The dragee is dispensed in the same manner as that already described, simply by depressing the dragee. Ejector 11 after the upper part 2 has been rotated further into the next removal position.

If the upper part 2 is made with a transparent material, it is easy to check whether the corresponding dragee has been removed or not and to check the degree of filling.

When the carrier 12 is empty, the upper part 2 is simply pulled off the lower part 1. The surfaces of the latching nose 5 and the latching tongue 7, which are to be oriented obliquely towards one another, slide apart in the radial direction of the container. The latching tongue 7 snaps over the latching lug 5 and the upper part 2 can be removed. After replacing the empty with a filled carrier 12, the upper part 2 is put back on the lower part 1 and the filled container is again available.

Claims

1. Container for the storage and individual dispensing of coated tablets held in annular carriers, consisting of a lower part receiving the carrier, with integrated, adapted to the carrier and arranged according to the spacing of the coated tablets and one that can be placed on the lower part rotatable upper part with a drawer ejector, characterized in that on the lower part (1) or on the upper part (2) shaft-shaped locking marks (4) are formed as a circular ring, into which an opposite part on the opposite part (1, 2 ) attached spring tongue (3) engages.

2. Container according to claim 1, characterized gekennzeich¬ net that the wavy locking marks (4) in the direction of rotation of the upper part (2) a smaller

Have an increase than in the opposite direction.

3. Container according to claim 1 and 2, characterized gekenn¬ characterized in that the locking marks (4) are formed radially outward on the outer surface of the Untertei¬ les (1).

4. Container according to claim 1 and 2, characterized gekenn¬ characterized in that the locking marks (4) radially inward in the radial outer region of the lower part

(1) are molded.

5. Container according to claim 1 and 2, characterized gekenn¬ characterized in that the locking marks (4) on the upper part (2) directed base of the lower part (1) are introduced in a circular shape.

6. Container according to claim 3 to 5, characterized gekenn¬ characterized in that at least one resilient tongue (3) on the outer edge of the upper part (2) is arranged.

7. Container according to claim 5 and 6, characterized gekenn¬ characterized in that the resilient tongue (3) on the lower part (1) facing the end face of the jacket surface of the upper part (2) is attached.

8. Container according to one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that in the center of the lower part (1) with a locking lug (5) ver¬ in the direction of the upper part (2) from the base projecting hub (6 ) is arranged and at least one latching tongue (7) attached to the upper part (2) engages in the latching nose (5) in the assembled state of the container.

9. Container according to one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that the outer diameter of the lower part (1) is larger than the outer diameter of the upper part (2).

10. Container according to claim 9, characterized gekennzeich¬ net that the projecting outer edge (8) is a marker.

11. Container according to one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that the outer mantle surface of the upper part (2) has inwardly directed formations (16).

12. Container according to one of claims 1 to 11, characterized in that on the top of the lower part (1) annular retaining webs (9), including the dispensing openings (10), are arranged, in which a chain-shaped Drageeträ¬ ger held is.

13. A container according to claim 12, characterized gekennzeich¬ net that the retaining webs (9) in the region of the discharge openings (10) are broken.