Pull and peel pack for dispensing medicants

Abstract

A tamper-evident child resistant package suitable for pharmaceuticals and the like, the package having a front sheet with a plurality of apertures therein, a rear sheet having a plurality of tear strips, the front sheet and rear sheet being secured together about a portion of their periphery with the apertures and tear strips being in registry, a blister pack being mounted intermediate the front sheet and rear sheet and comprising a blister sheet having blister pockets projecting from a front side thereof with a rupturable foil layer being sealed to a back side, the blister pack being slidable between a first position wherein the blister pockets are aligned with the apertures of the front sheets and a second position wherein the blister packages are not aligned with the apertures of the front sheet.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a tamper-evident, senior friendly and child resistant package for pharmaceutical or like products.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Blister packs are well known in the art and are widely used to package individual items such as different forms of medications including tablets, capsules and the like. Blister packs, in their basic form, comprise a blister sheet having blister pockets formed therein, each pocket normally being designed to retain a single pharmaceutical product. Secured to the back of the blister sheet is a rupturable foil layer which is arranged to form a continuous cover over the blister pockets.

While the blister pack is suitable for use as a senior friendly package, it also has tamper-evident properties. However, it does not provide the required degree of child resistance as a child would normally be able to access the pharmaceutical product fairly easily. This is highly undesirable since young children have frequently been poisoned by consuming such medication.

A conventional approach to enhance the security of the package has been to utilize a cardboard layer over the foil layer with the cardboard layer having tear strips formed therein. Thus, one may refer to U.S. Pat. No. 4,537,312 to Intini which shows a package having child resistant features. In the arrangement illustrated in this patent, there is provided a blister package having a front layer and an outer back layer which are sized larger than the conventional package and sealed to one another around their periphery and through apertures in the laminate. Tabs are provided at the edges of the sealed front and back layers. The tabs are connected to tear strips in the back layer, each of which overlays the foil covering a blister pocket. Upon removing the tear strips in the back layer, a layer or stratum of paperboard remains and which layer paperboard overlays the foil to thereby reinforce it and make it more difficult for the child to access the product in the blister package.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide a child resistant, senior friendly and tamper-evident package which adds a further security feature to those known in the art to prevent children from accessing the product while still remaining senior friendly.

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a tamper-evident child resistant package, the package comprising a front sheet having a plurality of apertures formed therein, a rear sheet having a plurality of tear strips formed therein, the front sheet and the rear sheet being secured together about a portion of their periphery with the apertures and the tear strips being in registry, a blister pack mounted intermediate the front sheet and the rear sheet, the blister pack comprising a blister sheet having blister pockets projecting from a front side thereof, a rupturable foil layer being sealed to a back side of the blister sheet to form a continuous cover over the blister pockets, the blister pack being slidable between a first position wherein the blister pockets are aligned with the apertures of the front sheet and a second position wherein the blister pockets are non-aligned with the apertures of the front sheet, and locking means to maintain the blister pack in the second position.

In the above described arrangement, the front layer and the back layer as well as the blister pack are preferably of a generally rectangular configuration with the side marginal edges of the front layer and back layer being secured together by suitable means such as adhesive to thereby form a sleeve. The sleeve envelops the blister pack which, as aforementioned, is slidable therein.

Preferably, one end of the blister pack is accessible for grasping by the user to slide the blister pack between the first and second positions. This may easily be accomplished by having a cutout portion formed in at least one of the end walls of the front or back sheets. This cutout would expose the end of the blister pack which then may be grasped to manipulate the package.

If desired, the opposite end of the front sheet and back sheet may also be secured together in the manner described with respect to the side edges.

The locking device for the package preferably comprises an extra blister formed in the blister layer and which blister is arranged to engage an aperture in the front layer when the blister pack is in the second position—i.e. a non-aligned position.

In order to facilitate the moving of the blister pack within the sleeve formed by the front layer and the back layer, the side edges of the blister pack may extend inwardly and preferably taper inwardly proximate the end wall. In this regard, the locking device can be placed anywhere on the package but is preferably located at one end thereof.

When the blister pack is in the first position—i.e. wherein the blister pockets are aligned with the apertures and the tear strips, access may be had by removing the tear strip and subsequently pushing the product through the foil layer.

The tear strip may be any suitable including those wherein access is had to the foil layer or an arrangement such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,537,312 to Intini may be utilized. In this arrangement, the foil layer is supported by a stratum of the paperboard which remains following removal of the tear strip.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Having thus generally described the invention, reference will be made to the accompanying drawings illustrating an embodiment thereof, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the rear portion of a package according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the front face thereof;

FIG. 3 is an exploded view of the components of the package according to the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a view of the rear of the package when the package is in a locked position;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view along the lines 5-5 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 4 when the locking device is unlocked permitting access to the package contents;

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along the lines 6-6 of FIG. 6; and

FIG. 8 is an enlarged view illustrating removal of a tear strip.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring to the drawings in greater detail and by reference characters thereto, there is illustrated a package according to the present invention and which package is designated by reference numeral 10.

Package 10 includes an outer sleeve portion 12 which is shown in FIG. 3 prior to forming. Outer sleeve 12 has a front sheet 14 defined by a side marginal edge 16, a top marginal edge 18, a bottom marginal edge 20 and a fold line 22. Front sheet 14 has a plurality of apertures 24 formed therein and there is provided a cut out 26 along top marginal edge 18.

A rear sheet 28 is attached to front sheet 14 by fold line 22. On the opposite side, there is provided a side fold line 30 which defines a side flap 32. Similarly, at the top there is provided a top fold line 34 defining a top flap 36, while at the bottom there is a bottom fold line 38 defining a bottom flap 40.

Located within rear sheet 28 and top flap 36 is a cutout generally designated by reference numeral 42 and which, when top flap 36 is folded, becomes equivalent to cut out 26 and front sheet 14.

Rear sheet 28 also has a plurality of tear strips 44 formed therein and which tear strips 44 are in registry with apertures 24 of front sheet 14 when the front sheet 14 and rear sheet 28 are folded about fold line 22.

As will be seen in FIG. 3, there is also provided an aperture 46 for reasons which will become apparent hereinbelow.

Package 10 also includes a blister pack generally designated by reference numeral 48 and which includes a blister sheet 49 having a plurality of blisters 50 formed therein in a conventional manner. A foil layer 52 is applied to the rear of blister pack 48 to cover blisters 50.

As may be seen in FIG. 3, the bottom side edges of blister pack 48 are tapered as generally designated by reference numeral 54 while along the top side marginal edges, there are provided cutouts 56.

A supplemental blister 58 is also provided on the blister sheet with supplemental blister 58 being formed on the opposite side of blister sheet 49 from blisters 50.

As may be seen in FIGS. 4 and 5, blister pack 48 is inserted within outer sleeve 12 with an upper edge portion 60 being capable of being grasped by the fingers as it sits within cutouts 26 and 42 and is moveable upwardly as indicated by arrow 62.

In the normal locked position shown in FIG. 4, blisters 50 are in a non aligned position with respect to tear strips 44. In this position, supplemental blister 58 engages aperture 46 to maintain the blister pack in the non aligned position.

When it is desired to access the contents of blisters 50, an inward pressure is applied on the upper marginal edges of outer sleeve 12 as indicated by arrows 64. This permits the release of supplemental blister 58 and movement as indicated by arrow 62 such that the blisters are brought in alignment with apertures 24 and tear strips 44. At this point of time, an individual tear strip 44 may be removed and the contents of the blisters rejected by pressure thereon in a conventional manner.

After the contents of an individual blister are dispensed, the package may be returned to the locked position of FIG. 4.

Other variations of the arrangement may be employed. Thus, for example, the tear strips may be completely removed from the foil layer to leave the foil exposed. Alternatively, the tear strips could be arranged to delaminate leaving a layer of paperboard to add to the difficulty of a child gaining access to the medication.

It will be understood that the above described embodiments are for purposes of illustration only and that changes and modifications may be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Claims

1. A tamper-evident child resistant package, said package comprising:

a front sheet having a plurality of apertures formed therein;

a rear sheet having a plurality of tear strips formed therein;

said front sheet and said rear sheet being secured together about a portion of their periphery with said apertures and said tear strips being in registry;

a blister pack mounted intermediate said front sheet and said rear sheet, said blister pack comprising a blister sheet having blister pockets projecting from a front side thereof, a rupturable foil layer being sealed to a back side of said blister sheet to form a continuous cover over said blister pockets;

said blister pack being slidable between a first position wherein said blister pockets are aligned with said apertures of said front sheet and a second position wherein said blister pockets are non-aligned with said apertures of said front sheet; and

locking means to maintain said blister pack in said second position.

2. The package of claim 1 wherein said blister pack, said front sheet and said rear sheet have a substantially rectangular configuration, said front sheet and said rear sheet being secured together along side edges.

3. The package of claim 1 wherein said locking means comprises an aperture formed in said front sheet and a blister pocket on said blister sheet, the arrangement being such that said locking blister pocket and said locking aperture are in registry when said blister package is in said second position.

4. The package of claim 2 wherein said blister pack has an end portion which extends exteriorly of said front sheet and said back sheet to permit a grasping of said end portion to slide said blister pack between said first and second positions.

5. The package of claim 4 wherein said blister package has a pair of inwardly tapering side walls adjacent said end portion.