Abstract
The invention relates to a method for manufacturing inhaler articles (10). The method comprises providing a plurality of semifinished inhaler articles. Each inhaler article comprises a longitudinal axis, a proximal end, and an open distal end (16). The method comprises aligning the semifinished inhaler articles such that their longitudinal axes are arranged in parallel and the open distal ends of the semifinished inhaler articles are located at the exact same height with respect to a direction parallel to the longitudinal axes. The method comprises at least partially closing the distal ends of the aligned semifinished inhaler articles. The invention further relates to packages of inhaler articles with uniformly closed ends. The invention further relates to a holder for an apparatus for manufacturing inhaler articles. The invention further relates to an apparatus for manufacturing inhaler articles.
Claims
1. A method for manufacturing inhaler articles, comprising steps of: providing a plurality of semifinished inhaler articles comprising a longitudinal axis, a proximal end, and an open distal end; aligning the semifinished inhaler articles such that their longitudinal axes are arranged in parallel and the open distal ends of the semifinished inhaler articles are located at the same height with respect to a direction parallel to the longitudinal axes; and at least partially closing the distal ends of the aligned semifinished inhaler articles.
2. The method according to claim 1, wherein aligning the open distal ends of the semifinished inhaler articles at the exact same height comprises moving a semifinished inhaler article relative to another semifinished inhaler article to compensate for differences in lengths of the semifinished inhaler articles due to manufacturing tolerances.
3. The method according to claim 1, wherein aligning the open distal ends of the semifinished inhaler articles at the exact same height comprises steps of providing a holder comprising a plurality of slot elements with movable end faces; inserting a semifinished inhaler article into each slot element such that the proximal end of the semifinished inhaler article contacts the movable end face of the slot; bringing the holder in proximity to a plane surface of an alignment element such that the plane surface is orthogonal to a longitudinal direction of the semifinished inhaler articles; flipping the holder and the alignment element by 180 degrees such that gravity moves the open distal ends of the semifinished inhaler articles downwards to contact the plane surface; moving the movable end faces downwards to contact the proximal ends of the semifinished inhaler articles; and fixing the positions of the movable end faces.
4. The method according to claim 3, comprising, after the step of fixing the positions of the movable end faces, a step of flipping the holder by 180 degrees such that the aligned semifinished inhaler articles are in an upright position with the open distal ends at the top.
5. The method according to claim 4, comprising, after the step of flipping the holder by 180 degrees such that the semifinished inhaler articles are in an upright position with the open distal end at the top, a step of inserting a capsule into each open distal end of the semifinished inhaler articles.
6. The method according to claim 5, wherein the capsule comprises nicotine.
7. The method according to claim 5, wherein the capsule comprises a dry powder.
8. The method according to claim 1, comprising, before the step of at least partially closing the distal ends of the aligned semifinished inhaler articles, a step of pre-treating a distal end portion of the semifinished inhaler articles to obtain a pre-treated portion with reduced structural stability.
9. The method according to claim 1, wherein the step of at least partially closing the distal ends of the aligned semifinished inhaler articles comprises folding a distal end portion of the semifinished inhaler articles inwards by at least 90 degrees.
10. A package comprising a plurality of inhaler articles manufactured by the method of claim 1.
11. The package according to claim 10, wherein the at least partially closed ends of the inhaler articles have a uniform appearance.
12. The package according to claim 10, wherein a difference in a diameter of a central aperture of a partially closed distal end of the inhaler articles is less than 20%.
13. A holder for an apparatus for manufacturing inhaler articles, comprising a plurality of slot elements, each slot element comprising a recess for insertion of a semifinished inhaler article and a movable end face for adjusting a longitudinal position of the semifinished inhaler article within the recess; and a releasable fixing means for holding the movable end faces in position.
14. An apparatus for manufacturing inhaler articles, comprising a holder according to claim 13, and an alignment element comprising a plane surface.
15. The apparatus of claim 14, comprising a flipping mechanism for rotating the holder by at least 180 degrees.
Description
[0139] FIGS. 1A-1C show an illustrative inhaler article;
[0140] FIGS. 2A-2D show steps of closing open ends of inhaler articles without alignment;
[0141] FIGS. 3A-3F show steps of alignment of inhaler articles; and
[0142] FIGS. 4A-4D show steps of closing open ends of inhaler articles without alignment.
[0143] FIG. 1A is a cross-sectional schematic diagram of an illustrative inhaler article 10.
[0144] The inhaler article 10 includes a body 12 extending along a longitudinal axis of the inhaler article 10 from a proximal end 14 to a distal end 16, a capsule cavity 18 and a capsule 20 retained within the capsule cavity 18. The body 12 comprises a paper material wrapped around a mouthpiece element 22 forming a deformable tubular element 24. The deformable tubular element 24 defines the capsule cavity 18, which is bounded downstream by mouthpiece element 22 and which is bounded upstream by the at least partially closed distal end 16 of the deformable tubular element 24.
[0145] In the embodiment of FIG. 1 the deformable tubular element 24 is formed of paper having a thickness of about 125 micrometers and a basis weight of about 100 grams per square meter. The illustrated inhaler article 10 has a mouthpiece element length of about 20 mm and the deformable tubular element 24 has a length of about 45 mm with an outer uniform diameter of about 7.2 mm.
[0146] FIG. 1B is a front perspective view of the illustrative inhaler article 10 wherein the distal end 16 of the deformable tubular element 24 is partially closed with the exception of a central aperture 26. The deformable element 24 is folded back onto itself forming overlapping pie shaped sections partially closing the distal end 16 of the capsule cavity 18.
[0147] FIG. 1C is a front perspective view of the illustrative inhaler article with a deformable tubular element 24 wherein the distal end 16 is opened. The folded sections of the distal end 16 of the deformable tubular element 24 may be opened to expose the capsule cavity 18. For opening the distal end 16, the deformable tubular element 24 may be inserted into an appropriate user-holder device, not described herein. After the folded sections of the distal end 16 of the deformable element 24 are opened, an aperture for receiving swirling or rotating inhalation airflow is formed.
[0148] FIGS. 2A-2D show steps of closing open ends of inhaler articles without an alignment of the present invention.
[0149] FIG. 2A shows semifinished inhaler articles 10 with open distal ends 16 and being filled with capsules 20. The semifinished inhaler articles 10 are arranged within slots of a holder 30. Due to manufacturing tolerances, the semifinished inhaler articles 10 differ in lengths. As a consequence, the heights of the open distal ends 16 of the articles 10 in the holder 30 differ. This is indicated by three dotted lines in FIG. 2A. The centered line indicates the desired height according to the nominal length of the articles 10. The upper and lower dotted lines indicate the differences in height for longer and shorter articles 10, respectively, due to the manufacturing tolerances. Folding heads 32 which form part of a closing station are also shown in FIG. 2A.
[0150] FIG. 2B indicates a subsequent step, where the folding heads 32 have been moved downwards in order to at least partially close the open distal end 16 of the semifinished inhaler articles 10 by folding a distal end portion of the semifinished inhaler articles 10 inwards by at least 90 degrees.
[0151] FIG. 2C indicates a subsequent step, where the folding heads 32 have been moved up again after having closed the distal ends 16 of the articles 10.
[0152] FIG. 2D shows the partially closed distal ends 16 in top view. The holder 30 is also shown. The central apertures 26 of the partially closed distal ends 16 differ in their sizes. In other words, the inner diameters of the central apertures 26 differ. This is caused by the different heights of the distal ends 16 before folding (FIG. 2A) which, in turn, result in different lengths of the folded distal end portion. The result thus is a non-uniform appearance of the distal ends 16 of the inhaler articles 10 as shown in FIG. 2D.
[0153] FIGS. 3A-3F show steps of alignment of semifinished inhaler articles in accordance to an embodiment of the invention.
[0154] FIG. 3A shows semifinished inhaler articles 10 with open distal ends 16. The semifinished inhaler articles 10 are arranged within slots of a holder 30. The slots comprise movable end faces 34. The end faces 34 are in their retracted position. Like in the embodiment of FIG. 2A, different heights of the open distal ends 16 due to manufacturing tolerances are indicated by three dotted lines in FIG. 3A.
[0155] FIG. 3B shows the provision of a plane surface of an alignment element 36 in proximity to the holder 30. The plane surface is orthogonal to a longitudinal direction of the semifinished inhaler articles 10.
[0156] FIG. 3C shows the holder 30 and the alignment element 36 having been flipped by 180 degrees. As a consequence, gravity moves the open distal ends 16 of the semifinished inhaler articles 10 downwards to contact the plane surface of the alignment element 36. This movement is indicated by arrows in FIG. 3C.
[0157] FIG. 3D shows a subsequent step of moving the movable end faces 34 downwards to contact the proximal ends 14 of the semifinished inhaler articles 10. This movement is indicated by arrows in FIG. 3D. The positions of the movable end faces are then fixed by means of a releasable fixing means 38.
[0158] FIG. 3E shows the holder 30 and the alignment element 36 having been flipped back into the upright position by 180 degrees.
[0159] As shown in FIG. 3F, after removal of the alignment element 36, capsules 20 may be inserted into the open distal ends 16. This movement is indicated by arrows in FIG. 3F. Since the articles 10 have been flipped back into the upright position, the capsules 20 may be inserted by gravity.
[0160] FIGS. 4A-4D show steps of closing the open ends of the semifinished inhaler articles 10 after the steps of alignment of FIGS. 3A-3F.
[0161] FIG. 4A shows that, after the alignment, the semifinished inhaler articles 10 are arranged such that their longitudinal axes are arranged in parallel and the open distal ends 16 of the semifinished inhaler articles 10 are located at the exact same height with respect to a direction parallel to the longitudinal axes. The location at the exact same height is indicated by a dotted line in FIG. 4A. Folding heads 32 of a closing station are also shown in FIG. 4A.
[0162] FIG. 4B indicates a subsequent step, where the folding heads 32 have been moved downwards in order to at least partially close the open distal end 16 of the semifinished inhaler articles 10 by folding a distal end portion of the semifinished inhaler articles 10 inwards by at least 90 degrees.
[0163] FIG. 4C indicates a subsequent step, where the folding heads 32 have been moved up again after having at least partially closed the distal ends 16 of the articles 10.
[0164] FIG. 4D shows the partially closed distal ends 16 in top view. The holder 30 is also shown. The central apertures 26 of the partially closed distal ends 16 do not differ in their sizes. In other words, the inner diameters of the central apertures 26 do not differ. This is achieved by the same heights of the distal ends 16 before folding (FIG. 4A) which, in turn, result in same lengths of the folded distal end portions. The result thus is a uniform appearance of the distal ends 16 of the inhaler articles 10 as shown in FIG. 4D.
