Combination Ingestible-Product and Beverage Packaging
A combination package for both an ingestible product, such as a medication, and a beverage, such as water, is of a unitary, single-use design. The medication and the beverage, of which only a small amount is provided, can be stored in separate sealed cavities defined by the package. The combination package can be designed so as to be easily and conveniently hung from a display rack in a store. A consumer can open the package to gain access to each cavity and can then orally consume the medication and then wash it down with the beverage.
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Various over-the-counter medications are routinely sold in pharmacies and convenience stores in bottles. In recent years, single-dosage-sized packages have also become available and may, e.g., be hung from display racks at the cashier's counter.
Likewise, liquid beverages, such as water, are routinely available at convenience stores and generally sold in the form of a plastic bottle, typically in volumes of 500 mL or more. The bottles typically include a metal or plastic cap that can be screwed on and off of the container part of the bottle. These bottles are generally purchased by customers to quench a thirst or to wash down a meal. Consequently, they are sold in sizes providing for more than a few swallows of the beverage by the consumer, and the replaceable cap allows for the beverage to be consumed in stages; for example a user can take a few sips of the beverage and then replace the cap and finish the beverage at a later time.
SUMMARYDisclosed herein is a combination package containing both an ingestible product that offers a health benefit to humans and a liquid beverage, such as water. A fairly small volume of the beverage can be provided—i.e., just enough for a user to wash down the ingestible product when ingesting it; consequently, the package can be much more compact than previous designs. In one embodiment, the package is of a unitary structure that defines a pair of cavities, one each for the ingestible product and for the beverage.
Additionally, in particular embodiments, no additional (separate) packaging for the ingestible product and beverage is provided. In other words, the beverage is not contained in a bottle, which is then incorporated into the unitary package, and the ingestible product is not contained in a separate sleeve or canister. Rather, the sole containment for the beverage and the ingestible product within the combination package can be the package, itself.
Accordingly, the entire package can be very small and highly portable and convenient; moreover, a tab in the form of a hook or including a defined orifice can be provided so that the package can be hung with a stack of similar packages from a display rack in a store. The design of this combination facilitates easy purchase and use by a consumer, wherein the consumer can easily tear open the package to access the ingestible product and the beverage, consume them and then throw away the package with minimal waste.
The package can be manufactured via a variety of methods that are different from conventional bottling techniques. In one embodiment, a front shell and a back shell are provided. The front shell can have a pair of bubbles into which the ingestible product and the beverage are placed and segregated. The back shell is then placed on top of the front shell and bonded thereto. After the bonding process the two cavities are fully sealed and segregated from one another within the package.
In the accompanying drawings, described below, like reference characters refer to the same or similar parts throughout the different views. The drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon illustrating particular principles of the methods and apparatus characterized in the Detailed Description.
Various embodiments of a (disposable) package or container with two discrete cavities or compartments each hold a single serving of an ingestible product and a small portion of a beverage to aid in the swallowing of the ingestible product are described, below, and illustrated in the figures. The cavity for each can be defined by the unitary (integral) package, itself, or can be defined by a separate structure, such as a bottle for the beverage or a separate blister package for the ingestible product The various embodiments are provided as non-limiting examples, and various features from the different embodiments can also be readily mixed and matched. Each of the packages illustrated and described herein can be sealed in an outer layer of shrink-wrap plastic to maintain the beverage and ingestible product compartments in a clean, sanitary condition. In addition, multi-use configurations are illustrated in
The ingestible product offers a health benefit to a human and generally will have a desired effect on the consumer upon ingestion. For example, the ingestible product can be a medication, a vitamin, an herbal remedy (e.g., ginseng, ginkgo biloba, psyllium, spirulina, or echinacea), etc.
Medications that can be contained in the ingestible product cavity of the package can be of many different types, e.g., antacids, antihistamines, aspirin, ibuprofen, oral contraceptives, pain-relief or anti-inflammatory drugs including aspirin, acetaminophen, ibuprofen, methyl salicylate, diflunisal, arylalkanoic acids, diclofenac, indomethacin, dulindac, 2-arylpropionic acids (profens), ibuprofen, ketoprofen, naproxen, carprofen, fenoprofen, ketorolac, n-arylanthranilic acids (fenamic acids), mefenamic acid, oxicams, piroxicam, meloxicam, coxibs, celecoxib, rofecoxib, valdecoxib, parecoxib, etoricoxib, sulphonanilides, and nimesulide. Moreover, the form of the medication (or other ingestible product) contained within the “ingestible product cavity” can be of a variety of forms, including (but not limited to) gel caps, capsules, coated or uncoated pills, powder, etc.
The beverage is a fluid that can safely be orally ingested by humans. Water (in a substantially pure form) is particularly suitable as the beverage. The water can be, for example, spring or distilled water. Alternatively, another type of beverage, such as soda, fruit juice or even a more-viscous fluid, such as drinkable yogurt, can be contained in the beverage cavity.
The package can be formed, e.g., of a plastic such as those marketed under the tradenames, LEXAN (from GE Plastics of Pittsfield, Mass., USA) and LUCITE (from Lucite International of Southampton, UK). Examples of other suitable plastics include polyethylene (PE), low-density polyethylene (LDPE), high-density polyethylene (HDPE), polystyrene, polypropylene, polycarbonate, polyester, etc.
An embodiment of the combination package 10 in the form of a clear blister pack with two discrete blisters 16 and 18 is illustrated in
Another embodiment, in the form of a minimal dual-pocket or dual-packet ingestible-product-and-beverage package 10 (similar to a packet of ketchup or mustard except with two discrete pockets 17 and 19 separated by a seal similar to that on the perimeter of a ketchup packet) is illustrated in
A bottle 22 filled with a beverage and having a secondary lid or cap 36 is illustrated in
A peel-away-top, dual-cavity, plastic package 10 with two discrete “tops” is illustrated in
A canister 42 for two discrete containers is illustrated in
Another embodiment of a blister-pack package 10 is illustrated from various perspectives in
The bubble 46 for the beverage includes a neck 48 at one end, wherein the neck 48 has a width substantially less than (e.g., less than half) that of the bulk or majority of the bubble. A cut-out slot 50 is provided around the neck 48 to thereby allow the end of the scaffold 26 (proximate to the tab 28) to be bent back to leave the neck 48 extended from the package. The package 10 can then be tilted to allow the beverage to flow through the neck 48 and into the consumer's mouth after the back shell 58 is peeled away from the neck 48. The bubble 46 for the beverage also includes a flattened portion 54 to enable the package 10 to sit flat when the front shell 56 is placed atop a horizontal surface. The opposite side of the package 10 (i.e., the outer side of the back shell 58) is substantially flat, thereby facilitating stacking of the packages.
A blister pack, such as the package 10 illustrated in
Alternatively, other means, such as a heat-sealing die can be used to thermally seal the back shell 58 to the front shell 56. In another alternative process, the back shell 58 can be sealed to the front shell 56, leaving a fill hole in the back shell 58 over the cavity defined by bubble 46. The needle of a filling tool can then be inserted through the fill hole to fill the bubble 46 with the beverage. Then, a foil decal can be applied to the back shell 58 to seal the fill hole. Finally, a consumer can pierce the fill hole with a pointed straw adhered to the package 10 to enable the consumer to suck the beverage out of the cavity and through the straw.
An embodiment of a fold-over package structure is illustrated in
Another package design is illustrated in
Another embodiment of a one-piece construction 66, this one merely being bent to contain the beverage and medication sub-packaging, is illustrated in
An embodiment of a package 10 including a straw 76 sealed under a shrink-perforated pull tab 40 on the scaffold 26 is illustrated in
A backerboard 86 to which a shell including a bubble for the beverage is ultrasonically welded is illustrated in
An exploded view of the different layers of a laminate package 10 is illustrated in
A clear plastic shell including a bubble 46 for containing a beverage is illustrated in
Two additional embodiments of backerboards 86 to which a front shell including a bubble for the beverage is shown in
Yet another embodiment, illustrated in
In other embodiments, a plurality of the packages 10 can be joined side to side or end to end and are able to be separated by tearing at a perforation 30, as shown in
As an alternative to the consumer ingesting the beverage and the ingestible product separately, the consumer can open the cavities and drop the ingestible product into the beverage; with products such as antacids, the product may dissolve therein. In still other embodiments, a membrane can be provided between the beverage cavity and the ingestible product; and a consumer can break that membrane to immerse the ingestible product in the beverage.
In describing embodiments of the invention, specific terminology is used for the sake of clarity. For purposes of description, each specific term is intended to at least include all technical and functional equivalents that operate in a similar manner to accomplish a similar purpose. Additionally, in some instances where a particular embodiment of the invention includes a plurality of system elements or method steps, those elements or steps may be replaced with a single element or step; likewise, a single element or step may be replaced with a plurality of elements or steps that serve the same purpose. Moreover, while this invention has been shown and described with references to particular embodiments thereof, those skilled in the art will understand that various other changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the scope of the invention.
Claims
1. A combination package comprising:
- a unitary package defining at least two cavities and including a tab in the form of a hook or defining an orifice so as to enable the package to be hung from the tab in a store display;
- a liquid beverage in a first of the cavities; and
- an ingestible product that offers a health benefit to a human in a second of the cavities.
2. The package of claim 1, wherein both the beverage and the ingestible product are in contact with the package
3. The package of claim 1, wherein the liquid beverage comprises water.
4. The package of claim 1, wherein the liquid beverage consists essentially of water.
5. The package of claim 1, wherein the ingestible product is a medication
6. The package of claim 5, wherein the medication is a pain-relief or anti-inflammatory drug.
7. The package of claim 5, wherein the medication is in a pill or capsule form.
8. The package of claim 7, wherein no more than two pills or capsules are contained in the second cavity.
9. The package of claim 1, wherein the package comprises plastic.
10. The package of claim 1, wherein the package backing comprises metal foil.
11. The package of claim 1, wherein 20 to 120 mL of the liquid beverage is in the first cavity.
12. A combination package comprising:
- a unitary package defining at least two cavities;
- a liquid beverage in a first of the cavities;
- an ingestible product that offers a health benefit to a human in a second of the cavities; and
- one or more pull-tabs configured to open the package and provide access to the beverage and/or to the ingestible product when pulled by a user.
13. A combination package comprising:
- a unitary package defining at least two cavities;
- a liquid beverage in a first of the cavities;
- an ingestible product that offers a health benefit to a human in a second of the cavities; and
- a perforated strip which is defined in the package at a position such that a user can gain access to the beverage or to the ingestible product when tearing the package along the perforated strip.
14. A combination package comprising:
- a unitary package defining at least two cavities;
- a liquid beverage in a first of the cavities; and
- an ingestible product that that offers a health benefit to a human in a second of the cavities; and
- one or more notches which are carved out of an edge of the package to facilitate tearing of the package by a consumer to access the beverage or the an ingestible product.
15. A combination package comprising:
- a unitary package defining at least two cavities;
- a liquid beverage in a first of the cavities; and
- an ingestible product that offers a health benefit to a human in a second of the cavities; and
- a pair of layers that are joined about their perimeters and between which the cavities are defined.
16. The package of claim 15, wherein the two layers are laminated to form a substantially planar perimeter region.
17. The package of claim 16, wherein one of the layers is a substantially planar substrate, and wherein the other layer includes a pair of blisters extending from the substantially planar substrate to define the two cavities.
18. The package of claim 16, wherein the cavity in which the beverage is contained includes a neck region at one end that is substantially narrowed from the rest of the cavity to facilitate drinking of the beverage from the neck region by a consumer.
19. The package of claim 16, further comprising a tab in the form of a hook or defining an orifice so as to enable the package to be hung from the tab in a store display.
20. A combination package comprising:
- a front shell and a removable sealing layer bonded with the front shell, wherein at least two cavities are defined between the shell and the sealing layer;
- a liquid beverage in a first of the cavities; and
- an ingestible product that offers a health benefit to a human in a second of the cavities, wherein the sealing layer includes a pull tab extending from the package and configured such that the sealing layer can be removed from the first cavity when the pull tab is pulled by a user.
21. The package of claim 20, further comprising a pull tab extending from the package and configured such that the sealing layer can be removed from the second cavity when the pull tab is pulled by a user.
22. A combination package comprising:
- a unitary package defining at least two cavities;
- a liquid beverage in a first of the cavities, wherein a perforated strip or a notch is defined in the package at a position such that a user can gain access to the beverage or to the ingestible product when tearing the package along the perforated strip or at the notch; and
- an ingestible product that offers a health benefit to a human in a second of the cavities.
23. A combination package comprising:
- a unitary package comprising a pair of layers that are joined about their perimeters and defining at least two cavities between the layers;
- a liquid beverage in a first of the cavities; and
- an ingestible product that offers a health benefit to a human in a second of the cavities.
24. A combination package comprising:
- a unitary package defining at least two cavities;
- a liquid beverage in a first of the cavities, wherein the first cavity includes a neck region at one end that is substantially narrowed from the rest of the cavity to facilitate drinking of the beverage by a consumer from the neck region; and
- an ingestible product that that offers a health benefit to a human in a second of the cavities.
25. A method for fabricating a combination package containing an ingestible product that offers a health benefit to a human and a liquid beverage, the method comprising:
- providing a front shell including a pair of bubbles;
- placing ingestible product in one of the bubbles;
- placing a liquid beverage in the other bubble;
- placing a back shell on top of the front shell to contain the ingestible product and the liquid beverage in separate cavities between the two shells; and
- bonding the back shell to the front shell to seal the two cavities.
26. The method of claim 25, wherein between 20 and 120 mL of the liquid beverage is placed in the bubble.
27. The method of claim 25, wherein the shells are bonded using ultrasonic welding.
28. The method of claim 25, wherein the shells are thermally bonded.
29. A combination package comprising:
- a unitary package defining at least two cavities;
- to 120 mL of a liquid beverage in a first of the cavities; and
- an ingestible product that offers a health benefit to a human in a second of the cavities.
30. The method of claim 24, wherein the package is hung from the tab on a rod.
Type: Application
Filed: Jun 30, 2006
Publication Date: Jan 3, 2008
Applicant: (Grafton, MA)
Inventors: Steven Collotta (Grafton, MA), Samuel L. Millen (Somerville, MA)
Application Number: 11/428,054
International Classification: B65D 77/00 (20060101); B65D 71/00 (20060101); B65D 73/00 (20060101); B65D 85/42 (20060101);