NOVEL OPENING FOR A BLISTER PACKAGE

Abstract

An improved notch-forming tab enables a blister card package comprising a medicament to be easily opened by a user. The blister card package includes a container sheet having a well formed therein; a cover sheet laminated to the container sheet and spanning the well to form a blister containing the medicament between the cover sheet and the container sheet; and a plurality of slits defining a pattern comprising a pair of legs having respective converging and diverging ends disposed adjacent the blister. The converging ends of the pair of legs are separated from one another by between about 0.1 mm and about 1 mm and are spaced from the blister. The diverging ends of the pair of legs are spaced from an adjacent edge of the blister pack. Methods of opening this and other inventive blister card packages are also described herein.

Claims

1. A blister card package for a medicament comprising: a) a container sheet having a well formed therein; b) a cover sheet laminated to the container sheet and spanning the well to form a blister containing the medicament between the cover sheet and the container sheet; and c) a plurality of slits defining a pattern comprising a pair of legs having respective converging and diverging ends disposed adjacent the blister; wherein the converging ends of the pair of legs are separated from one another by between about 0.1 mm and about 1 mm and spaced from the blister, and the diverging ends of the pair of legs are spaced from an adjacent edge of the blister pack.

2. The blister card package of claim 1 wherein the pair of legs is generally V-shaped having an apex directed toward the blister.

3. The blister card package of claim 1 wherein the pair of legs converge at an angle of from about 90 to about 150.

4. The blister card package of claim 1 wherein the converging ends of the pair of legs are separated from one another by between about 0.2 mm and about 0.8 mm.

5. The blister card package of claim 1 wherein the diverging ends of the pair of legs are separated by between about 10 mm and about 20 mm.

6. A blister card package for a medicament comprising a plurality dosing units separated by at least one line of weakness, each dosing unit comprising: a) a container sheet having a well formed therein; b) a cover sheet laminated to the container sheet and spanning the well to form a blister containing a medicament between the cover sheet and the container sheet; and c) a plurality of slits defining a pattern comprising a pair of legs associated with the blister having respective converging and diverging ends disposed between the blister and a line of weakness; wherein the converging ends of the pair of legs are separated from one another by between about 0.1 mm and about 1 mm and spaced from the blister, and the diverging ends of the pair of legs are spaced from an adjacent line of weakness.

7. The blister card package of claim 6 wherein the pair of legs is generally V-shaped having an apex directed toward the blister.

8. The blister card package of claim 6 wherein the pair of legs converge at an angle of from about 90 to about 150.

9. The blister card package of claim 6 wherein the converging ends of the pair of legs are separated from one another by between about 0.2 mm and about 0.8 mm.

10. The blister card package of claim 6 wherein the diverging ends of the pair of legs are separated by between about 10 mm and about 20 mm.

11. The blister card package of claim 6 comprising between 4 and 10 dosing units.

12. A child-resistant blister card package for a medicament requiring at least a two-step opening process, said blister card package comprising: a) a container sheet having a well formed therein; b) a cover sheet laminated to the container sheet and spanning the well to form a blister containing a medicament between the cover sheet and the container sheet; and c) a plurality of slits defining a pattern comprising a pair of legs having respective converging and diverging ends disposed adjacent the blister; wherein the converging ends of the pair of legs are separated from one another by between about 0.1 mm and about 1 mm and spaced from the blister, and the diverging ends of the pair of legs are spaced from an adjacent edge of the blister card package.

13. The blister card package of claim 12 wherein the pair of legs is generally V-shaped having an apex directed toward the blister.

14. The blister card package of claim 12 wherein the pair of legs converge at an angle of from about 90 to about 150.

15. The blister card package of claim 12 wherein the converging ends of the pair of legs are separated from one another by between about 0.2 mm and about 0.8 mm.

16. The blister card package of claim 12 wherein the diverging ends of the pair of legs are separated by between about 10 mm and about 20 mm.

17. A method of opening the blister card package of claim 1 comprising the steps of: a) grasping an inner tab defined by the plurality of slits; b) manipulating the inner tab to fracture the laminate between the converging ends of the pair of legs and between each the diverging ends of the pair of legs and the edge of the blister card package; c) removing the tab to form a notch between a pair of outer tabs, the notch having an apex defined by a fracture propagation region formed between the converging ends of the pair of legs; and d) moving the outer tabs in opposite directions to fracture the laminate from the fracture propagation region and toward and into the blister to access the medicament contained therein.

18. A method of opening the blister card package of claim 6 comprising the steps of: a) separating an individual dosing unit from the blister card package; b) grasping an inner tab defined by the plurality of slits; c) manipulating the inner tab to fracture the laminate between the converging ends of the pair of legs and between each the diverging ends of the pair of legs and the edge of the line of weakness; d) removing the inner tab to form a notch between a pair of outer tabs, the notch having an apex defined by a fracture propagation region formed between the converging ends of the pair of legs; and e) moving the outer tabs in opposite directions to fracture the laminate from the fracture propagation region and toward and into the blister to access the medicament contained therein.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0014] Embodiments of this invention will now be described in greater detail, by way of illustration only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0015] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a blister card package according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0016] FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the blister card package of FIG. 1;

[0017] FIG. 3 is a cross-section along line 3-3 of the blister card package of FIG. 2;

[0018] FIG. 4 is a cross-section along line 4-4 of the blister card package of FIG. 2;

[0019] FIG. 5 is a perspective view of an individual dosage unit of a blister card packaging according to the present invention;

[0020] FIG. 6 is a top plan view of the dosage unit of FIG. 5;

[0021] FIG. 7 is a top plan view of the dosage unit of FIG. 6 after removal of the tab; and

[0022] FIG. 8 is a top plan view of the dosage unit of FIG. 7 illustrating a fracture path of the blister card material enabling the removal of the medicament therefrom.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0023] The inventive blister card package described herein can be seen in FIGS. 1 through 6. There is contained a blister card package 100 separated into individual dosage unit sections 200 which are separable from the remainder of the package 100 via score lines or perforations 110. Each individual dosage unit section 200 is provided with a blister 210 to accommodate a medicament 120 such as a tablet, capsule or the like. As shown in FIG. 1, blister card package 100 includes six individual dosage unit sections 200, although other alternate configurations are possible. For example, a blister card may be configured to contain between 1 and 12 sections, each containing an individual dosage unit. Other configurations may have 4-12 sections, or 6-8 sections.

[0024] Each of the individual dosage unit sections 200 may be detached from the blister card package 100 by bending and tearing along one or more lines of perforations 110, as known in the art.

[0025] The blister package 100 has at least two layers as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. The first layer is a container sheet 212, preferably formed of a rigid, heat sealable material in which wells 214 may be formed. The second layer is a cover sheet 216 which is heat sealed to the container sheet 212. The cover sheet 216 completely overlays the container sheet 212 and is heat sealed or glued thereto to provide an airtight seal.

[0026] Both the container sheet layer 212 and the cover sheet layer 216 are formed from conventional materials.

[0027] The container sheet 212 is preferably formed of a strong, rigid polymeric material, such as transparent polyvinyl chloride, polyvinyl dichloride, polyethylene or polypropylene. The container sheet has a substantial thickness of up to about 0.64 mm (0.025 inch), more preferably about 0.25 mm (0.01 inch), to provide the needed rigidity and to protect the contents of the blisters form damage during shipping. The container sheet should have the required strength to prevent access by a child. The wells 214 are integrally formed in the container sheet 212 and have the desired configuration to contain the medicament 120 product.

[0028] The cover sheet 216 may be any material or laminate that effectively seals the medicament 120 in the well 214. One useful embodiment may be a laminate of thin metal foil such as aluminum foil and paper. However, to achieve child resistance, the laminate often includes a layer such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET). This layer provides tear resistance. Therefore, the cover sheet 216 is preferably a laminate including PET and may include foil and paper layers for moisture resistance and printability, respectively. Thus, child resistant laminates often have a foil layer, PET layer and paper layer with the foil layer being treated to provide a heat sealable surface to enable heat sealing to the container sheet 212. Often, the paper layer serves as the label for the blister card package.

[0029] Again, the container sheet 212 and the cover sheet 216 are typically sealed together by means of heat sealing or adhesives as known in the art.

[0030] Referring now to FIG. 5, the blister card package 100 (or an individual dosage unit section 200) has an opening mechanism 300 defined by a plurality of slits 302 disposed between the blister 210 and an edge 304 of the blister card package 100 (or an individual dosage unit section 200). the plurality of slits 302 define a pattern including a pair of legs 306 having respective converging ends 308 and diverging ends 310. The converging ends 308 of the pair of legs 306 are disposed proximate the blister 210 and are separated from one another. The diverging ends 310 of the of the pair of legs 306 are disposed proximate the edge 304 and are separated from the edge 304.

[0031] The converging ends 308 are preferably separated from one another by about 0.1 mm to about 1 mm, more preferably by about 0.2 mm to about 0.8 mm (dimension C in FIG. 5). In addition, the converging ends 308 are preferably separated from the blister 210 by at least about 2 mm (dimension D in FIG. 5).

[0032] The diverging ends 310 are preferably separated from one another by about 10 mm to about 20 mm, more preferably by about 13 mm to about 17 mm (dimension B in FIG. 5). In addition, the diverging ends 310 are preferably separated from the edge 304 by at least about 2 mm (dimension A in FIG. 5).

[0033] While legs 306 are shown as straight lines, it will be recognized that legs 306 may be other curvilinear forms, such as without limitation, concave or convex arcs, waves, and other forms.

[0034] In addition, the angle defined legs 306 (defined by straight lines as shown in the drawings or defined by imaginary lines from their respective converging and diverging ends) is less than 180, preferably an obtuse angle, and more preferably between about 90 and about 150. (FIG. 6)

[0035] The opening of the blister card package 100 (or an individual dosage unit section 200) is a two-step process to increase child resistance including the steps of removing an inner tab 312 defined by the plurality of slits 302 including the pair of legs 306 having respective converging ends 308 and diverging ends 310. Again, the converging ends 308 of the pair of legs 306 are disposed proximate the blister 210 and are separated from one another. The diverging ends 310 of the of the pair of legs 306 are disposed proximate the edge 304 and are separated from the edge 304. The method described herein can be further understood by reference to FIGS. 6 through 8.

[0036] First, the inner tab 312 is grasped and twisted to fracture the laminate between the converging ends 308 of the pair of legs 306 and between each the diverging ends 310 of the pair of legs 306 and the edge of the blister pack 304. The inner tab 312 is manipulated (e.g., by twisting or otherwise flexing or distorting the blister card) to fracture the laminate between the converging ends 308 of the pair of legs 306 and between each the diverging ends 310 of the pair of legs 306 and the edge 304 of the blister card package 100 (or an individual dosage unit section 200). The removing the inner tab 312 to form a notch 314 between a pair of outer tabs 316, the notch 314 having an apex 318 defined by a fracture propagation region 320 formed between the converging ends 308 of the pair of legs 306. The outer tabs 316 are moved in opposite directions to fracture the laminate (e.g., along a tear 322) from the fracture propagation region 320 and toward and into the blister 210 to access the medicament 120 contained therein.

[0037] For a blister card package having a plurality of individual dosing units, a user would separate an individual dosing unit from the blister card packaging before completing the method described above.

[0038] Surprisingly, we have found that fracturing the laminate between the converging ends 308 provides improved opening performance, especially by adults with impaired strength, arthritic hands, or other conditions that impair the opening process described below. While not intending to be limited by this theory, we believe that the formation of the fracture propagation region reduces the force necessary to tear the laminate between the apex of the notch and the well in comparison to prior art blister card packages having a notch apex formed by a continuous slit, such as described in Swartz, U.S. Pat. No. 6,422,391.